Isaiah 10:24 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 10:24
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Lord
אֲדֹנָ֤י'a.do.Nai
H136
the Lord (used as a proper name of God only) · proper noun, a title
GOD
יְהוִה֙Yah.weh
H3069
YHWH · proper noun, a title
hosts
צְבָא֔וֹתtze.va.'ot
H6635
a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common feminine plural absolute
people
עַמִּ֛י'a.Mi
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
dwellest
יֹשֵׁ֥בyo.Shev
H3427
properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
Zion
צִיּ֖וֹןtzi.Yon
H6726
Tsijon (as a permanent capital) · proper noun, a place name
afraid
תִּירָ֥אti.Ra'
H3372
to fear · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
Assyrian
מֵֽאַשּׁ֑וּרme.'a.Shur
H804
Ashshur · preposition + proper noun, a place name
smite
יַכֶּ֔כָּהya.Ke.kah
H5221
to strike (lightly or severely · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
rod
בַּשֵּׁ֣בֶטba.She.vet
H7626
a scion · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
up
יִשָּֽׂאyi.sa'-
H5375
to lift · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
staff
וּמַטֵּ֥הוּu.ma.Te.hu
H4294
a branch (as extending) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
manner
בְּדֶ֥רֶךְbe.De.rekh
H1870
a road (as trodden) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
Egypt
מִצְרָֽיִםmitz.Ra.yim
H4714
Mitsrajim · proper noun, a place name
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
Hebrews 12:22-24 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Isaiah 37:6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewi…
Isaiah 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spir…
Exodus 1:10-16 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto ou…
Exodus 5:14 And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not…
Exodus 14:9 But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by…
Exodus 14:21-31 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea…
Exodus 15:6-10 Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 10:24–end
The prophet, in his preaching, distinguishes between the precious and the vile; for God in his providence, even in the same providence, does so. He speaks terror, in Sennacherib's invasion, to the hypocrites, who were the people of God's wrath, Isa 10:6. But here he speaks comfort to the sincere, who were the people of God's love. The judgment was sent for the sake of the former; the deliverance was wrought for the sake of the latter. Here we have,
I. An exhortation to God's people not to be frightened at this threatening calamity, nor to be put into any confusion or consternation by it. Let the sinners in Zion be afraid (Isa 33:14): but O my people, that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of t…
Therefore--Return to the main proposition, Assyria's ultimate punishment, though employed as God's "rod" to chastise Judea for a time.
O my people--God's tenderness towards His elect nation.
after the manner of Egypt--as Egypt and Pharaoh oppressed thee. Implying, too, as Israel was nevertheless delivered from them, so now it would be from the Assyrian Sennacherib. The antithesis in Isa 10:26 requires this interpretation [MAURER].
John Gill on Isaiah 10:24
Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts,.... Since there is such a decree, and this will certainly be executed:
O my people, that dwellest in Zion; the inhabitants of Jerusalem; such of them especially as feared the Lord, and worshipped him, and served him in the temple:
be not afraid of the Assyrian: the king of Assyria; neither Sennacherib, that threatened them with ruin, having taken the cities of Judah, and laid siege to Jerusalem; nor Nebuchadnezzar, who carried them captive, since he would not be able utterly to destroy them, they would return and dwell in the land again; for there was a decree concerning the salvation of a remnant, which would certainly take place; and till that…
(v. 24 seqq.) Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: Do not fear, my people who dwell in Zion, from Assyria, who shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, as the Egyptians did. For yet a little while and my indignation will be fulfilled and my anger will be directed towards their wickedness. And the Lord of hosts will raise a whip against them, as he did against Midian at the rock of Oreb, and his staff against the sea, and he will lift it up in the manner of the Egyptians. And it shall come to pass in that day: his burden shall be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing oil. Regarding the stone, which in Hebrew is interpreted as Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion put the Hebrew word Sur Oreb. Regarding this, the LXX interpreted as the place of tribulation, about which we will say in its proper place. It seems difficult to you, O inhabitant of Zion, that while all the surrounding nations are subjugated by the Assyrians, you alone would be liberated from their hands. Listen to what I say: do not be afraid, my people, because you will be captured by Assyria when it conquers. For in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign (2 Kings 18), Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, will come to attack all the fortified cities of Judah and capture them. He will send his commander-in-chief, Rabshakeh, to terrify the besieged people of Jerusalem. However, you should know that he will not strike you with a sword, but with a rod. He will march against King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, the Egyptians, and the Red Sea by way of Egypt. He will only raise his staff against you, and he will not be able to strike you. For a little while longer, I will return from Egypt with an infinite multitude of army and wishing to besiege you, I will immediately strike with my indignation, and I will raise that whip, which once I used against the Midianites under Gideon (Judges 7), who was also called Jerubbaal. When Oreb and Zebah, the leaders of the Midianites, were killed on a very hard rock, that is, flint, which is called Sur in Hebrew, so that from the rock and from the king who was killed on it, the place received the name Rock of Oreb. So he shall lift up his rod over the Red Sea, going against the Ethiopians, and he shall lift it up again on his return to you by the way of Egypt; but as soon…
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
Assyria — The name derived from the city Asshur on the Tigris, the original capital of the country, was originally a colony from Babylonia, and was ruled by viceroys from that kingdom. It was a mountainous…
Isaiah — (Heb. Yesh’yahu, i.e., “the salvation of Jehovah”). (1.) The son of Amoz (Isa. 1:1; 2:1), who was apparently a man of humble rank. His wife was called “the prophetess” (8:3), either because she was…
Lebanon · Illustrative: Of great and powerful monarchs — Illustrative: Of great and powerful monarchs
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).
Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts. He goes on with the same consolation, which belongs to the godly alone, who at that time, undoubtedly, were few in number. A great number of persons gloried in the name of God, and wished to be accounted his people; but there were few who actually performed what they professed in words; and, therefore, he does not address all without reserve, but only those who needed consolation. The kingdom having been destroyed, they might entertain fears about themselves and their affairs, and might judge of their own condition from that of others, and therefore it was necessary to comfort them. This distinction ought to be observed, for otherwise it would…
In these esoteric addresses, whoever, it is not the prophet's intention to threaten and terrify, but to comfort and encourage. He therefore turns to that portion of the nation which needs and is susceptible of consolation, and draws this conclusion from the element of consolation contained in what has been already predicted, that they may be consoled. - "Therefore thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, My people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of Asshur, if it shall smite thee with the rod, and lift its stick against thee, in the manner of Egypt." "Therefore:" lacēn never occurs in Hebrew in the sense of attamen (Gesenius and Hitzig), and this is not the meaning here, but propterea. Th…
God assured his people of his presence and purpose.
10:24 as the Egyptians did long ago: See Exod 1:8–2:25.
Rashi on Isaiah 10:24
Therefore Since I know that Hezekiah and his company will return to Him. [Aternatively, לָכֵן is an expression of an oath. לָכֵן indeed.]
so said the Lord... Fear not,...Assyria; with a rod may he smite you With the “rod” of his mouth will he insult and deride you through Rabshakeh.
and his staff may he bear over you to frighten you, the way he did to Egypt. It may alternatively be explained: With a rod does he smite you[i.e.,] who has smitten you until now with a rod and has become accustomed to bearing his staff and his fright over you as the Egyptians did. Rabbi Joseph told me this in the name of Rabbi Menahem.
