Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 30:32

"And every stroke of the appointed staff, which Jehovah shall lay upon him, shall be with [the sound of] tabrets and harps; and in battles with the brandishing [of his arm] will he fight with them." — Isaiah 30:32 (ASV)

And in every place where the grounded staff... — The meaning the English version was intended to convey is not clear. A better rendering is, Wherever the destined rod passes (literally, the rod of foundation) which the Lord causes to fall on him.

It shall be with tabrets and harps... — i.e., at every stroke of God’s judgments on Asshur, Israel was to raise its song of triumph with timbrels and harps (or perhaps, lutes), which were used by the people in their exultation after victory. So after Jephthah’s and David’s victories, we find similar processions (Judges 11:34; 1 Samuel 18:6). Israel was to sing, as it were, its Te Deum over the fall of Assyria. In the same way, the long walls that connected Athens and the Piraeus were pulled down by the Spartans to the sound of music.

In battles of shaking will he fight with it. — Literally, battles of swinging, marking the action of the warrior who swings his sword rapidly back and forth, striking his enemies at every stroke. The Hebrew pronoun for “it” is feminine and has been referred by some critics to Jerusalem.