Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 10

Woe to them that decree unrighteous decrees – This refers to those who frame statutes that are oppressive and iniquitous. The prophet here refers, undoubtedly, to the rulers and judges of the land of Judea. He had given a similar description before (see Isaiah 1:10, Isaiah 1:23, and other similar passages).

And that write... – The Hebrew is, ‘And to the writers who write violence.’ The word translated “grievousness,” עמל ‛âmâl, properly denotes wearisome labor, trouble, oppression, or injustice. Here, it evidently refers to the judges who declared oppressive and unjust sentences and caused them to be recorded. It does not refer to the mere scribes, or recorders of the judicial opinions, but to the judges themselves, who pronounced the sentence and caused it to be recorded.

The manner of making Eastern decrees differs from ours: they are first written, and then the magistrate authenticates or annuls them. This, I remember, is the Arab manner, according to D’Arvieux. When an Arab wanted a favor from the emir, the way was to apply to the secretary, who drew up a decree according to the request of the party; if the emir granted the favor, he printed his seal upon it; if not, he would return it, torn, to the petitioner.

Sir John Chardin confirms this account and applies it very appropriately to the illustration of a passage I never thought of when I read D’Arvieux.

After citing Isaiah 10:1, ‘Woe to them that decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers that write grievousness,’ (for so our translators have rendered the latter part of the verse in the margin, much more suitably than in the main body of the translation), Sir John goes on, ‘The manner of making royal acts and ordinances relates to this; they are always drawn up according to the request. The first minister, or the one whose office it is, writes on its side, “according to the king’s will,” and from there it is sent to the secretary of state, who draws up the order in form.’ – Harmer.

To turn aside - Their sentences have the effect, and are designed, to pervert justice, and to oppress the poor, or to deprive them of their rights and just claims (Proverbs 27:5).

The needy - daliym - דלים dalı̂ym. These are those of humble rank and circumstances, who have no powerful friends and defenders. From judgment means from obtaining justice.

And to take away - This means to take away by violence and oppression. The word גזל gāzal—is commonly applied to robbery, and to oppression; to the taking away of spoils in battle, etc.

That widows may be their prey - This means that they may rob widows or obtain their property. This crime has always been particularly offensive in the sight of God (see the note at Isaiah 1:23). The widow and the orphan are without protectors. Judges, by their office, are particularly bound to preserve their rights; and it, therefore, reveals special iniquity when those who should be their protectors become, in fact, their oppressors and do injustice to them without the possibility of redress. Yet this was the character of the Jewish judges; and for this the vengeance of heaven was about to come upon the land.

And what will you do – The prophet here proceeds to denounce the judgment, or punishment, that would follow the crimes specified in the previous verses. That punishment was the invasion of the land by a foreign force. ‘What will you do? To whom will you fly? What refuge will there be?’ This implies that the calamity would be so great that there would be no refuge or escape.

In the day of visitation – The word “visitation” (פקדה p^eqûddâh) is used here in the sense of God’s coming to punish them for their sins (Job 35:15; Isaiah 26:14; Ezekiel 9:1). The idea is probably derived from that of a master of a family who comes to take account, or to investigate the conduct of his servants, and where the visitation, therefore, is one of reckoning and justice. So the idea is applied to God as designing to visit the wicked; that is, to punish them for their offences .

And in the desolation – The destruction, or overthrowing. The word used here – שׁואה shô'âh – usually denotes a storm, a tempest (Proverbs 1:27); and then sudden destruction, or calamity, that sweeps along irresistibly like a tempest (Zephaniah 1:15; Job 30:3, 30:14; Psalms 35:8).

Which shall come from far – That is, from Assyria, Media, Babylonia. The sense is, ‘a furious storm of war is about to rage. To what refuge can you then flee? Or where can you then find safety?’

Where will you leave your glory – By the word “glory” here, some have understood the prophet as referring to their aged men, their princes and nobles, and as asking where they would find a safe place for them. But he probably means their “riches, wealth, magnificence.” Thus (Psalms 49:17):

For when he dieth, he shall carry nothing away;
His glory shall not descend after him.

See also (Hosea 9:2; Isaiah 66:12). The word “leave” here, is used in the sense “of deposit,” or commit for safe keeping . ‘In the time of the invasion that shall come up like a tempest on the land, where will you deposit your property so that it shall be safe?’

Without me - בלתי biltı̂y. There has been a great variety of interpretation given to this expression. Our translators evidently understood it to mean that they would be forsaken by God, and as a result, they would bow down as captives or among the slain.

The Vulgate and the Septuagint, however, and many interpreters understand this word as a simple negative. "Where will you flee for refuge? Where will you deposit your wealth so as not to bow down under a chain?" The Vulgate translates it Ne incurvemini sub vinculo; the Septuagint, Τοῦ μὴ ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς ἀπαγωνήν tou mē empesein eis apagōnēn—"Not to fall into captivity." The Hebrew will bear either interpretation.

Vitringa and Lowth understand it as our translators did, meaning that God would forsake them, and that without Him—that is, deprived of His aid—they would be destroyed.

They shall bow down - They will be subdued, like armies that are taken captive.

Under the prisoners - That is, under the condition of prisoners, or as prisoners. Some understand it to mean that they would be brought down in the place of prisoners—that is, in prison. But it evidently means, simply, that they would be captives.

They shall fall under the slain - This means they will be slain. Gesenius renders it, "Among the prisoners, and among the slain." The Chaldee reads it, "You will be cast into chains out of your own land, and beyond your own cities you will be cast out slain."

Vitringa supposes that the prophet, in this verse, refers to the ancient custom of placing prisoners of war under a wooden yoke to indicate their captivity. That such a custom existed, there can be no doubt, but it is not probable that Isaiah refers to it here.

The simple idea is that many of them would be taken captive, and many of them slain. This prediction was fulfilled in the invasion of Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings 15; 2 Kings 16).

For all this - Despite these calamities. The cup of punishment is not filled by these calamities, but divine judgment will still be poured out further on the nation. The anger of God will not be fully expressed by these lesser inflictions of His wrath; His hand will continue to be stretched out until the whole nation is overwhelmed and ruined (see the note at Isaiah 10:12).

O Assyrian - The word הוי (hôy) — is commonly used to denounce wrath or to indicate approaching calamity, as an interjection of threatening; (Isaiah 1:4). Wo sinful nation; (Isaiah 10:8), (Isaiah 10:11), (Isaiah 10:18), (Isaiah 10:20–21); (Jeremiah 48:1); (Ezekiel 13:2). The Vulgate so understands it here: Vae Assur; and the Septuagint, Οὐαι Ἀσσυρίοις (Ouai Assuriois) — Woe to the Assyrians. So the Chaldee and the Syriac.

It is not then a simple address to the Assyrian, but a form denouncing wrath on the invader. Yet it was not so much designed to intimidate and appall the Assyrian himself as to comfort the Jews with the assurance that calamity should overtake him. The ‘Assyrian’ referred to here was the king of Assyria — Sennacherib, who was leading an army to invade the land of Judea.

The rod of my anger - That is, the rod, or instrument, by which I will inflict punishment on a guilty nation. The Hebrew would bear the interpretation that the Assyrian was an object against which God was angry; but the former is evidently the sense of the passage, denoting that the Assyrian was the agent by which he would express his anger against a guilty people.

Woe might be denounced against him for his wicked intention, at the same time that God might design to make use of his plans to punish the sins of his own people. The word “anger” here refers to the indignation of God against the sins of the Jewish people.

And the staff - The word “staff” here is synonymous with rod, as an instrument of chastisement or punishment (Isaiah 9:4); compare (Isaiah 10:24); (Nahum 1:13); (Ezekiel 7:10).

In their hand - There has been considerable variety in the interpretation of this passage. Lowth and Noyes read it, ‘The staff in whose hand is the instrument of my indignation.’ This interpretation Lowth adopts by omitting the word הוא (hû') on the authority of the Alexandrine copy of the Septuagint and five manuscripts, two of them ancient.

Jerome reads it, ‘Wo to the Assyrian! He is the staff and the rod of my fury; in their hand is my indignation.’ So Forerius, Ludovicus de Dieu, Cocceius, and others. Vitringa reads it, ‘And in the hands of those who are my rod is my indignation.’ Schmidius and Rosenmuller read, ‘And the rod which is in their hands is the rod of my indignation.’

There is no necessity for any change in the text. The Hebrew, literally, is, Wo to the Assyrian! Rod of my anger! And he is the staff. In their hands is my indignation. The sense is sufficiently clear that the Assyrian was appointed to inflict punishment on a rebellious people as the instrument of God.

The Chaldee renders it, ‘Wo to the Assyrian! The dominion (power, ruler) of my fury, and the angel sent from my face against them for a malediction.’ The Septuagint, ‘And wrath in their hands.’

In their hand - In the hand of the Assyrians, where the word ‘Assyrian’ is taken as referring to the king of Assyria, as the representative of the nation.