John Gill Commentary Isaiah 10:9

"Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?" — Isaiah 10:9 (ASV)

[Is] not Calno as Carchemish ?
&c.] Jarchi's note is, ``as the children of Carchemish are princes and rulers, so are the children of Calno;'' as if this was giving an instance of the grandeur of his subjects; but much better is the Targum, ``as Carchemish is subdued before me, shall not Calno be so?'' as I or my ancestors have conquered the one, it is as easy for me to conquer the other; or as sure as the one is subject to me, so sure shall the other be; for Carchemish was a city belonging to the Assyrians, situated upon the river Euphrates, (2 Chronicles 35:20) (Jeremiah 46:2) called by Ammianus ^F11 Circusium; the Syriac version calls it Barchemosh; and Calno is the same with Calneh in the land of Shinar, a city built by Nimrod, (Genesis 10:10) (Amos 6:2) in the Septuagint version it is called Chalane, and it is added, ``where the tower was built;'' from whence the country, called by Pliny ^F12 Chalonitis, had its name, the chief city of which was Ctesiphon, thought to be the same with Calneh.

[Is] not Hamath as Arphad ?
Hamath and Arphad were both cities conquered by the Assyrians; see (2 Kings 18:34) and are both mentioned along with Damascus, (Jeremiah 49:23) . [Is] not Samaria as Damascus ?
Damascus was the metropolis of Syria, and was taken by the Assyrians; and Samaria was the metropolis of Ephraim, or the ten tribes; see (Isaiah 7:8Isaiah 7:9) and was as easy to be taken as Damascus was. The Targum is, ``as Arphad is delivered into my hands, shall not Hamath be so? As I have done to Damascus, so will I do to Samaria.''

---

FOOTNOTES:

• F11: L. 23. c. 5. p. 360.
• F12: Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 26. and 27.