Isaiah 10:20 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 10:20
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
remnant
שְׁאָ֤רshe.'Ar
H7605
a remainder · noun, common masculine singular construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Yis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
escaped
וּפְלֵיטַ֣תu.fe.lei.Tat
H6413
deliverance · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct
house
בֵּֽיתbeit-
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
Jacob
יַעֲקֹ֔בya.'a.Ko
H3290
Jaakob · proper noun, a man's name
again
יוֹסִ֨יףyo.Sif
H3254
to add or augment (often adverbial · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
stay
לְהִשָּׁעֵ֖ןle.hi.sha.'En
H8172
to support one's self · preposition + verb, niphal infinitive construct
smote
מַכֵּ֑הוּma.Ke.hu
H5221
to strike (lightly or severely · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
stay
וְנִשְׁעַ֗ןve.nish.'An
H8172
to support one's self · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֛הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
One
קְד֥וֹשׁke.Do.osh
H6918
sacred (ceremonially or morally) · adjective, masculine singular construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
truth
בֶּאֱמֶֽתbe.'e.Met
H571
stability · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 37:31-32 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
2 Kings 16:7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of th…
2 Chronicles 28:20 And Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not.
Isaiah 1:9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
Isaiah 17:7-8 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 50:10 Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in…
Ezra 9:14 Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till…
Isaiah 4:2-3 In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that a…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 10:20-23
The prophet had said (Isa 10:12) that the Lord would perform his whole work upon Mount Zion and upon Jerusalem, by Sennacherib's invading the land. Now here we are told what that work should be, a twofold work: -
I. The conversion of some, to whom this providence should be sanctified and yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness, though for the present it was not joyous, but grievous; these are but a remnant (Isa 10:22), the remnant of Israel (Isa 10:20), the remnant of Jacob (Isa 10:21), but a very few in comparison with the vast numbers of the people of Israel, who were as the sand of the sea. Note, Converting work is wrought but on a remnant, who are distinguished from the rest and set…
The effect on the "remnant" (contrasted with the Assyrian remnant, Isa 10:19); namely, those who shall be left after the invasion of Sennacherib, will be a return from dependence on external idolatrous nations, as Assyria and Egypt (Kg2 18:21; Kg2 16:7-9), to the God of the theocracy; fulfilled in part in the pious Hezekiah's days; but from the future aspect under which Paul, in Rom 9:27-28 (compare "short work" with "whole work," Isa 10:12, here), regards the whole prophecy, the "remnant," "who stay upon the Lord," probably will receive their fullest realization in the portion of Jews left after that Antichrist shall have been overthrown, who shall "return" unto the Lord (Isa 6:13; Isa 7:3;…
And it shall come to pass in that day,.... Here begins a prophecy relating to the people of Israel, and concerns things that should befall them after the destruction of the Babylonish monarchy, which after Nebuchadnezzar did not last long; there were but two kings after him mentioned in Scripture, Evilmerodach, and Belshazzar; so that its tall trees, its kings, were very few, so few that a child might count them; and what is after said is for the comfort of that people, and seems to refer to the times of the Gospel, as appears by some words in the context cited by the Apostle Paul:
that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob; who should return from the Babyloni…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 20 onwards) And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel shall no more stay upon him that smote them, but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. For the Lord God of hosts will make a consummation and an abbreviation in the midst of all the land. As it is said in Greek: The remnant of Jacob will return to the mighty God, for the mighty God, in Hebrew it is written El Gibbor (), two names out of the six names by which we read the little child and son, who is given to us, is called. And because it is written: The remnant will return, in Hebrew it is said in the singular number, that which is left will return, that is, τὸ ὑπόλειμμα ἐπιστρέψει, in Hebrew it is written Sar Jasub (). And from this occasion of conversation, they believe that the son of Isaiah, named Jasub, preceded as a sign of salvation for the people of Israel. Therefore, when the light of Israel, and the holy forest of Carmel, and the thorn bush are consumed, and the Assyrian king flees with a few, then the remaining people of Israel, who were besieged in Jerusalem with King Hezekiah as their leader, will by no means rely on the Assyrian king, as they now do under King Ahaz, who sent messengers to the king of Assyria saying, 'I am your servant, go up and free me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who have risen against me' (2 Kings 16:7). When he brought gold and silver, which were found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and in the royal palace, and sent gifts to the king of Assyria, he listened to him and went to Damascus, captured it, and deported Rasin. But having been freed from the Assyrian oppressor, who had previously been a friend and later an enemy, let them rely and have confidence in the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, not falsely as they did under previous kings, but in truth. What we read about under Hezekiah: that, having abandoned idols, they turned to the worship of God. And because he had said that the remnants must be saved, he moves on to later times and says that full salvation will come under Christ. This is also what the apostle Paul, understanding this,…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Afflictions Made Beneficial · In turning us to God — In turning us to God
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
It shall be in that day. Returning now to the elect people, he describes the result of the chastisement which was at hand. As it is painful and disagreeable to us to endure calamities and afflictions, and as we refuse them so far as lies in our power, the Lord points out to us the result of them, that we may be taught to consider the design of them, and may thus bear more patiently: as if he had said, "You would wish that the Assyrians were driven to a great distance from you, and that you could live in comfort and safety. But consider, that this chastisement is as necessary as medicine would be for curing your diseases; for you do not acknowledge the power of God, and you withdraw your conf…
"And it will come to pass in that day, the remnant of Israel, and that which has escaped of the house of Jacob, will not continue to stay itself upon its chastiser, and will stay itself upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth." Behind the judgment upon Asshur there lies the restoration of Israel. "The chastiser" was the Assyrian. While relying upon this, Israel received strokes, because Jehovah made Israel's staff into its rod. But henceforth it would sanctify the Holy One of Israel, putting its trust in Him and not in man, and that purely and truly (be'emeth, "in truth"), not with fickleness and hypocrisy. Then would be fulfilled the promise contained in the name Shear-yashub, after…
In the midst of Assyrian oppression, there was hope for the remnant. This passage develops more fully the meaning of Shear-jashub, a remnant will return (10:21; see 7:3; 8:18).
10:20 left . . . the survivors: A remnant from Jerusalem barely survived, but their safety was secure because God promised to preserve them (see 1:8-9; 4:2; 6:13; 37:31-32). • All these wars would teach the Israelite remnant to no longer depend on allies such as Assyria. Instead, they would faithfully trust in the Lord (see 8:13; 17:7).
Rashi on Isaiah 10:20
to lean on him that smote them [i.e.,] to lean on the kings of Egypt, who were the first to oppress them.
