Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 10:15

"Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? shall the saw magnify itself against him that wieldeth it? as if a rod should wield them that lift it up, [or] as if a staff should lift up [him that is] not wood." — Isaiah 10:15 (ASV)

Shall the ax boast itself ...? —The words spoken by the prophet as the mouthpiece of Jehovah remind us of the way in which Christian writers of the fifth century spoke of Attila as “the scourge of God.” There was comfort in that thought for the nations that were scourged. The man’s lust for power might be limitless, but there was the limit of the compassion and longsuffering of God.

As if the rod should shake itself against those who lift it up. —Better, As if the rod should shake them. The plural is used either as generalizing the comparison, or more probably as suggesting the thought that Elohim (God) is the true wielder of the rod. .

As if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood. —The multiplied italics show that the translators found the clause difficult. Better and more simply, As if the staff should lift that which is not wood, i.e., the living arm that holds it. Was it for the king of Assyria to assume that he could alter and determine the purposes of Jehovah? Did the man wield the rod, or the rod the man?