Isaiah 30:31

For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod. A ROD. The Assyrian rod which beat, shall itself be beaten, and that by the mere voice of the Lord - i:e., an unseen divine agency (; )....

31._Surely by the voice of Jehovah. _He added this for two reasons; first, to shew why the Assyrian must be bruised; for, since he was cruel and savage to others, it is proper that “the same measure which he meted should be measured to him again.” (Matthew 7:2.) This is the ordinary judgment of God against tyrants, as the Prophet says in a subsequent passage of this book, “Woe to thee that spoilest, for thou shalt be spoiled.” (Isaiah 33:1.) The second reason is, because the power of the Assyrian king appeared to be so great that he could not fall. Although, therefore, he was fortified on every hand, not only to defend himself, but also to attack others, yet the Prophet says, that “by the voice of God” alone he shall be bruised. Hence we learn how groundless is the confidence of wicked men, who rely on

27-33 God curbs and restrains from doing mischief. With a word he guides his people into the right way, but with a bridle he turns his enemies upon their own ruin. Here, in threatening the ruin of Sennacherib's army, the prophet points at the final and everlasting destruction of all impenitent sinners. Tophet was a valley near Jerusalem, where fires were continually burning to destroy things that were hurtful and offensive, and there the idolatrous Jews caused their children to pass through the fire to Moloch. This denotes the certainty of the destruction, as an awful emblem of the place of torment in the other world. No oppressor shall escape the Divine wrath. Let sinners then flee to Christ, seeking to be reconciled to Him, that they may be safe and happy, when destruction from the Almighty shall sweep away all the workers of iniquity....

Verse Isaiah 30:31. WHICH _SMOTE WITH A ROD _- "He that was ready to smite with his staff"] אשור "Post _ashshur_, forte excidit אשר _asher_." - SECKER. After אשור _ashshur_, probably אשר _asher_, "which," has been omitted....

FOR THROUGH THE VOICE OF THE - Lord By the command of the Lord; that is, his voice going forth in the manner specified in Isaiah 30:30. WHICH SMOTE WITH A ROD - Who was accustomed to smite as with a rod; that is, his government was tyrannical and severe. As he had been accustomed to smite in that manner, so he would now meet the proper reward of his oppression of the nations....

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 30:1 THE ALLIANCE WITH EGYPT OPENLY REBUKED. In the preceding chapter (Isaiah 30:15) the design of the Jewish rulers to seek the alliance of Egypt was covertly glanced at and condemned; now it is openly declared and rebuked. The rulers are warned that no good can possibly come of it, even in a worldly sense. The Egyptians will give no aid, or at any rate no effectual aid. The sums expended in purchasing their friendship will be utterly thrown away. ISAIAH 30:1 WOE TO THE REBELLIOUS CHILDREN (comp....

FOR THROUGH THE VOICE OF THE LORD SHALL THE ASSYRIAN BE BEATEN DOWN,.... As anything is by a storm of thunder, lightning, hail, and rain: or "fear", or be "affrighted", as the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions render it; Sennacherib, the Assyrian monarch, and that part of his army which escaped, though not destroyed by it, were put into the utmost consternation: this shows that the prophecy in the context refers to the overthrow of the Assyrian army by the angel, when besieging Jerusalem in Hezekiah's time; though the Assyrian is sometimes used for any enemy of God's people at other times, particularly antichrist, and especially the eastern antichrist, the Turk: [WHICH] SMOTE WITH A ROD; other nations, particularly the Jews, whom the Assyrian is expressly said to smite with a rod; and because he was an instrument in God's hand for the chastising of that people, he is called the rod of h...

CHAPTER 30 The Fourth Woe Against Alliance With Egypt 1. _The alliance and its failure (Isaiah 30:1)_ 2. _The written table against the rebellious people (Isaiah 30:8)_ 3. _Jehovah's word of encouragement (Isaiah 30:15)_ 4. _The nation blest and restored (Isaiah 30:18)_ 5. _Idolatry ceases and the land restored (Isaiah 30:22)_ 6. _The accomplishment by the coming of the Lord (Isaiah 30:27)_ While this chapter had a si

If this is the work of Isaiah, it describes the overthrow of Assyria. The description is very vigorous, and some feel that the loud colours are dashed on too violently to make Isaiah's authorship probable. And the zest with which the disaster is painted is thought to be unworthy of him. But these reasons are far from cogent. Yahweh comes like the dense thunder-cloud from the far horizon, from which the devastating lightning will leap, while torrential rain floods the land. The nations will be passed through the sieve till they are destroyed, and will be guided in the way of ruin. While the Assyrians are being overthrown the Jews are exultant, as when they sing their song by night at the Feast of Tabernacles (or perhaps Passover), or as when they go in procession to the Temple. For Yahweh's voice shall peal out in thunder, while the lightnings flash, the clouds burst, and the hail descend...

Songs of rejoicing arise within the city, while the Assyrians are slaughtered under its walls....