Isaiah 10:34

And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one. HE SHALL CUT DOWN THE THICKETS OF THE FORESTS WITH IRON, AND LEBANON SHALL FALL BY A MIGHTY ONE. This verse and describe the sudden arrest and overthrow of Sennacherib in the height of his success (Isaiah 10:18; Ezekiel 31:3, contains the same image. "Lebanon" and its forest are the Assyrian army; the "iron" axe that fells the forest refers to the stroke which destroyed the 185,000 Assyrians (). The "Mighty one" is Yahweh (;...

34._And he will cut down the thick places of the forest with iron. _There is no difficulty in explaining this metaphor, for it is plain enough that by tall and high trees is denoted all that is powerful, excellent, or lofty. Thus he foretells the destruction and ruin of Judea, which he compares to the _cutting down of a forest_; by which he means that there is nothing so valuable that the enemies will not destroy it, till they have stripped the whole land of its ornaments. _And Lebanon will fall violently. _He mentions _Lebanon_, because that mountain, as we all know, was highly celebrated for fruitful and highly valuable trees. Now, if he had been speaking of the Assyrians, it would not have been appropriate to introduce the destruction of _Lebanon_. Hence we infer that the Prophet, in this passage, again threatens the Jews; and this agrees well with the introduction of the discourse, f...

20-34 By our afflictions we may learn not to make creatures our confidence. Those only can with comfort stay upon God, who return to him in truth, not in pretence and profession only. God will justly bring this wasting away on a provoking people, but will graciously set bounds to it. It is against the mind and will of God, that his people, whatever happens, should give way to fear. God's anger against his people is but for a moment; and when that is turned from us, we need not fear the fury of man. The rod with which he corrected his people, shall not only be laid aside, but thrown into the fire. To encourage God's people, the prophet puts them in mind of what God had formerly done against the enemies of his church. God's people shall be delivered from the Assyrians. Some think it looks to the deliverance of the Jews out of their captivity; and further yet, to the redemption of believer...

Verse Isaiah 10:34. _LEBANON SHALL FALL BY A MIGHTY ONE_] באדיר _beaddir_, the angel of the Lord, who smote them, _Kimchi_. And so _Vitringa_ understands it. Others translate, "The high cedars of Lebanon shall fall:" but the king of Assyria is the person who shall be overthrown....

AND HE SHALL CUT DOWN THE THICKETS OF THE FOREST - The army of the Assyrians, described here as a thick, dense forest; compare Isaiah 10:18. WITH IRON - As a forest is cut down with an axe, so the prophet uses this phrase here, to keep up and carry out the figure. The army was destroyed with the pestilence 2 Kings 19:35; but it fell as certainly as a forest falls before the axe. AND LEBANON - Lebanon is here evidently descriptive of the army of the Assyrian, retaining the idea of a beautiful and magnificent forest. Thus, in Ezekiel 31:3, it is said, ‘the king of the Assyrians was a cedar of Lebanon with

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 10:1 The prophecy begun in Isaiah 9:8 terminates with this stanza, which contains a warning against injustice and oppression, addressed to Israel and Judah equally, and accompanied by the threat of a "day of desolation," when those who have refused to make God their Refuge will have no resource, but to go into captivity with the "prisoners," or to perish with the "slain." A foreign conquest, accompanied by slaughter, and the deportation of captives, is not obscurely intimated. ISAIAH 10:1 WOE UNTO THEM THAT DECREE UNRIGHTEOUS DECREES (comp. Isaiah 1:17

AND HE SHALL CUT DOWN THE THICKETS OF THE FOREST WITH IRON,.... The multitude of the common soldiers, the whole body of the army, by means of one of his angels, that excel in strength, for which he is compared to "iron"; and which is explained in the next clause: AND LEBANON SHALL FALL BY A MIGHTY ONE; the Assyrian army is compared to the forest of Lebanon, for the multitude of trees in it, and the tallness of its cedars, it abounding not only with common soldiers, but with great men; so it is compared to a forest, and to Carmel, or a fruitful field, in Isaiah 10:18 and the Assyrian monarch is said to be a cedar in Lebanon, Ezekiel 31:3 which fell by the hands of one of the mighty angels, 2 Kings 19:35

CHAPTER 10 The Assyrian, His invasion of Immanuel's land, and His end 1. _The first four verses belong to the preceding chapter. A description of the Assyrian enemy (Isaiah 10:5)_ 2. _The overthrow of his army announced (Isaiah 10:12)_ 3. _The punishment (Isaiah 10:16)_ 4. _The return of the remnant (Isaiah 10:20)_ 5. _The faithful remnant comforted (Isaiah 10:24)_ 6. The Assyrians march against Jerusalem (Isaiah 10:28

ASSYRIA'S BOASTFULNESS AND ITS PUNISHMENT. This prophecy, so far as it is Isaiah's, must be later than the capture of Carchemish in 717 and before Sennacherib's invasion in 701. Narrower limits cannot be fixed. Non-Isaianic material appears to be present in it. ISAIAH 10:5. Assyria is Yahweh's rod to smite any nation that has aroused His anger, but, inspired by lust of blood, plans to exterminate many peoples, and boastfully thinks to destroy Jerusalem with her divine nonentities, less powerful than those of cities she has seized. So, when she has served His purpose, He will punish her boastfulness in ascribing her conquests to her own wisdom and might. She has abolished the boundaries of subject peoples, merging them in her empire; plundered their treasures and abased their rulers, robbing the nations as a man takes the eggs from a nest abandoned by the panic-stricken birds, n

FOREST. Authorized Version, edition 1611, reads., "forests" (plural) These are Sennacherib's own figures of himself. See 2 Kings 19:23. Compare Isaiah 29:17; Ezekiel 31:3. Note the contrast in Isaiah 11:1....