Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 10:24

"Therefore thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian, though he smite thee with the rod, and lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt." — Isaiah 10:24 (ASV)

O my people ... be not afraid of the Assyrian. —The practical conclusion of all that has been said is that the people should not give way to panic as they had done in the days of Ahaz (Isaiah 7:2), but should await the march of Sargon, or his successor, with the tranquillity of faith. They were not to faint beneath the blows of the “rod” and “staff,” even if it were to reproduce the tyranny of Egypt. In that very phrase, “after the manner of Egypt,” there was a basis for hope, for the cruelty of Pharaoh was followed by the Exodus. As the later Jewish proverb put it, “When the tale of bricks is doubled, then Moses is born.”