Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 10:6
I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
6. I will send him, &c.] Rather: I send him against a profane nation (R.V.). See ch. Isa 9:17. In a general description of the mission of Assyria it is not advisable to limit the reference to Judah or Israel. The meaning is that Jehovah sends the Assyrian against any nation that deserves punishment.
people of my wrath ] See Isa 9:19.
like the mire of the streets ] Cf. Psa 18:42; Mic 7:10.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I will send him – Implying that he was entirely in the hand of God, and subject to his direction; and showing that God has control over kings and conquerors; Pro 21:1.
Against an hypocritical nation – Whether the prophet here refers to Ephraim, or to Judah, or to the Jewish people in general, has been an object of inquiry among interpreters. As the designs of Sennacherib were mainly against Judah. it is probable that that part of the nation was intended. This is evidently the case, if, as has been supposed, the prophecy was uttered after the captivity of the ten tribes; see Isa 10:20. It need scarcely be remarked, that it was eminently the characteristic of the nation that they were hypocritical; compare Isa 9:17; Mat 15:17; Mar 7:6.
And against the people of my wrath – That is, those who were the objects of my wrath; or the people on whom I am about to pour out my indignation.
To take the spoil – To plunder them.
And to tread them down – Hebrew, And to make them a treading down. The expression is drawn from war, where the vanquished and the slain are trodden down by the horses of the conquering army. It means here, that the Assyrian would humble and subdue the people; that he would trample indignantly on the nation, regarding them with contempt, and no more to be esteemed than the mire of the streets. A similar figure occurs in Zec 10:5 : And they shall be as mighty men which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in battle.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
I will send him, not by express commission, but by the secret yet powerful conduct of my providence, giving him both occasion and inclination to this expedition. Hypocritical: See Poole “Isa 9:17“.
The people of my wrath; the objects of my just wrath, devoted to destruction.
Give him a charge, by putting this instinct into his mind.
To tread them down like the mire of the streets; which signifies that he should easily conquer them, and utterly destroy them, as he did after this time.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. send him“Kings’hearts are in the hand of the Lord” (Pr21:1).
hypocriticalpolluted[HORSLEY].
nationJudah, againstwhom Sennacherib was forming designs.
of my wrathobjects ofMy wrath.
give . . . charge (Jer34:22).
and to tread, c.HORSLEYtranslates: “And then to make him (the Assyrian) atrampling under foot like the mire of the streets” (so Isa 10:12Isa 33:1; Zec 10:5).But see Isa 37:26.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I will send him against a hypocritical nation,…. The people of Israel, who might well be called so, since everyone of them was a hypocrite, Isa 9:17 pretending to love, fear, and serve the Lord, when it was only outwardly, and by profession, and not in deed, and in truth; their character contains the reason of the Lord’s calling and sending the Assyrian to correct and chastise them:
and against the people of my wrath: who provoked him to wrath, were deserving of it, and upon whom he was about to bring it; it was their hypocrisy that stirred up his wrath against them; nothing is more hateful to God than that:
will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey: that is, the Assyrian monarch, to make a spoil and a prey of the people of the Jews, not by any legal commission, or express command, but by the secret power of his providence, guiding and directing him into the land of Judea, to ravage and spoil it:
and to tread them down like the mire of the streets: which denotes the great subjection of the inhabitants of it to him; the very low and mean estate into which they should be brought; the great contempt they should be had in; the little account that should be had of them; and their inability to help and recover themselves.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
6. To a hypocritical nation. He proceeds with the former statement, by which he called the Assyrian the rod of God’s indignation; for as the father does not in vain take up the rod, but has this object in view, to chastise his son, so he declares that the Lord’s rod has no uncertain destination, but is appointed for the chastisement of the unthankful and wicked. He calls it a hypocritical or wicked nation, because it has no uprightness or sincerity. Uprightness is contrasted with hypocritical conduct, because uprightness is the chief of all the virtues; and in like manner hypocrisy is the mother of all the vices. It is therefore no light accusation which he brings against the Israelites; but he charges them with what is most of all to be abhorred, and therefore immediately afterwards he calls them the people of his indignation, as he elsewhere calls the Edomites the people of his curse. (Isa 34:5.) Though he means that he is displeased with the Jews, yet the Hebrew phraseology is much more emphatic; for it conveys the idea that the reason why this nation is devoted to destruction is, that nothing is to be found in it but grounds of anger. Indeed, God is never angry with us unless we have provoked him by our sins; but when wickedness has come to its greatest height, his indignation is kindled, and cannot be appeased. Thus he cuts off the hope of reconciliation from hypocrites and wicked men, who ceased not continually to add sin to sin.
I will command him to take the spoil and to take the prey. He says that he has given a loose rein to the fierceness of enemies, that they may indulge without control in every kind of violence and injustice. Now, this must not be understood as if the Assyrians had a command from God by which they could excuse themselves. There are two ways in which God commands; by his secret decree, of which men are not conscious; and by his law, in which he demands from us voluntary obedience. This must be carefully observed, that we may reply to fanatics, who argue in an irreligious manner about the decree of God, when they wish to excuse their own wickedness and that of others. It is of importance, I say, to make a judicious distinction between these two ways of commanding. When the Lord reveals his will in the law, I must not ascend to his secret decree, which he intended should not be known to me, but must yield implicit obedience.
Now, if any one allege that he obeys God, when he complies with his sinful passions, he is guilty of falsehood, by vainly attempting to involve God in the guilt of his crimes, to which he knows that he is led by the failings of his own heart; for on this point no other witness or judge is needed but a man’s own conscience. God does indeed make use of the agency of a wicked man, but the man has no such intention. It is therefore accidental, so far as relates to men, that he acts by the wicked and reprobate; for they neither know that they serve God, nor wish to do so. Accordingly if they seize on this pretext, it is easy to prove that, when they yield obedience to their own sinful passion, they are at the greatest possible distance from obeying God. They have the will of God declared in his law, so that it is in vain for them to seek it anywhere else. So far as they are concerned, they do not perform the work of God, but the work of the devil; for they serve their own lusts. (Eph 2:2.) Nothing certainly was farther from the intention of the Assyrians than to give their services to God, but they were hurried along by their lust and ambition and covetousness. Yet the Lord directed their exertions and plans to an object which was totally different, and which was unknown to themselves.
This passage may be thus summed up. “It will be an uncommon and extraordinary instance of God’s vengeance, when the Assyrians shall attack them with unrestrained liberty of action; for they will be sent by God, not to treat them with gentleness and moderation, but to plunder them in the manner of an invading army.” He likewise adds, to tread them down. Nothing can go beyond this, for it means that the vanquished are not spared, but that every possible species of abuse has been heaped upon then.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) I will send him against an hypocritical nation.Better, impious. The verb admits of the various renderings, I will send, I did send, and I am wont to send. The last seems to give the best meaningnot a mere fact in history, nor an isolated prediction, but a law of the Divine government.
To take the spoil.The series of words, though general in meaning, contains probably a special reference to the recent destruction of Samaria, walls pulled down, houses and palaces turned into heaps of rubbish, the soldiers trampling on flower and fruit gardens, this was what the Assyrian army left behind it. Judah had probably suffered in the same way in the hands of Sargon.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. Against Or, upon.
A hypocritical nation Israel is meant, but Judah is not to escape. The Assyrian knew not that God sends him, or allows him, with far different purpose from his own, to invade his fallen people, the people of his wrath who have persistently become objects of divine disfavour.
To take spoil prey Literally, To spoil spoil, and to prey prey. The Hebrew has a strong, though meagre, vocabulary.
To tread them down Hebrew, To lay them a treading. Psa 18:42.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 10:6. I will send him, &c. The enarration follows the proposition; the first part of which, extending to the 13th verse, contains, first, the hypothesis and the occasion of the design of this king; namely, that by the permission of God, he should subvert the Ephraimitish state, and succeed while thus engaged. Secondly, the crimes committed by him in the execution of this divine judgment; Isa 10:7-11. Thirdly, the punishment decreed for him; Isa 10:12. The reason is assigned in the verse before us, why God gave up his people to be punished by the Assyrian, namely, their hypocrisy. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people that have angered me will I give him instruction to take, &c. See Isa 10:16-17 of the preceding chapter, chap. Isa 8:1-2 and Mic 1:6; Mic 7:10.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Isa 10:6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
Ver. 6. I will send him I will give him a charge.] Non patefacta quidem voluntate, sed arcana providentia, I will stir him up by a secret providence, which, being nothing else but the carrying on of the divine decree, is that helm that turneth about the whole ship of the universe.
Against an hypocritical nation.
And against the people of my wrath.
To take the spoil, and to take the prey.
And to tread them down like mire in the streets.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
hypocritical = impious, profane, godless, ‘ or irreligious. Compare Isa 9:17 with Isa 33:14, the only other occurance in Isaiah.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
against: Isa 9:17, Isa 19:17, Isa 29:13, Isa 30:9-11, Isa 33:14, Jer 3:10, Jer 4:14, Mat 15:7
will I give: Isa 10:13, Isa 10:14, Isa 37:26, Isa 37:27, Isa 41:25, Isa 45:1-5, Jer 25:9, Jer 34:22, Jer 47:6, Jer 47:7
tread them: Heb. lay them a treading, Isa 22:5, Isa 63:3, Isa 63:6, 2Sa 22:43, Mic 7:10, Zec 10:5
Reciprocal: 1Ki 16:7 – because he killed him 2Ki 5:1 – by him 2Ki 13:3 – and he delivered 2Ki 17:3 – king of Assyria 2Ki 18:25 – Amos I now 2Ki 19:4 – the remnant 2Ki 19:25 – Hast thou not 2Ki 21:14 – deliver 2Ki 24:3 – Surely 1Ch 5:26 – stirred up 2Ch 15:6 – God 2Ch 21:16 – the Lord 2Ch 24:24 – So 2Ch 32:1 – king of Assyria Est 3:13 – the spoil Est 8:11 – and to take the spoil Job 19:12 – His Job 20:22 – every hand Job 40:12 – tread Psa 7:5 – tread Psa 9:6 – thou hast Psa 18:42 – cast Psa 44:10 – spoil Psa 60:12 – tread Psa 74:3 – Lift Psa 89:41 – All Psa 94:10 – he correct Pro 16:19 – than Pro 20:24 – how Isa 1:4 – Ah sinful Isa 5:5 – trodden down Isa 7:7 – General Isa 7:17 – bring upon Isa 7:20 – shave Isa 8:4 – the riches of Damascus Isa 10:12 – when the Lord Isa 13:4 – the Lord Isa 15:7 – the abundance Isa 23:11 – the Lord Isa 25:10 – even Isa 27:8 – his rough Isa 28:19 – the time Isa 29:2 – I will Isa 37:4 – for the Isa 42:24 – General Isa 45:7 – I make Peace Isa 47:6 – wroth Isa 54:16 – I have Jer 29:4 – whom Jer 50:11 – ye destroyers Jer 50:21 – and do Jer 50:26 – cast her up Jer 51:53 – from Eze 9:1 – Cause Eze 23:22 – I will raise Eze 28:14 – and I Eze 29:20 – served Eze 30:24 – and put Eze 38:12 – General Hos 12:2 – and will Amo 3:11 – General Amo 6:11 – the Lord Amo 6:14 – I will Mic 1:15 – will Mic 5:1 – gather Mic 6:9 – hear Nah 2:12 – and filled Nah 3:19 – upon Mat 6:2 – as Act 2:23 – being Rom 3:7 – why yet Rom 9:17 – I raised Rom 9:19 – Why doth Rev 6:4 – and there
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 10:6-7. I will send him By my providence, giving him both opportunity and inclination to undertake this expedition; against a hypocritical nation Or, a profane nation, as the word rather signifies; and against the people of my wrath The objects of my just wrath, devoted to destruction. To tread them down like the mire of the streets Easily to conquer them, and utterly to destroy them, as he did after this time. Howbeit, he meaneth not so He does not design the execution of my will, but only to extend his conquests, and thereby to enlarge his empire, and gratify his ambition. Which is seasonably added, to justify God in his judgments threatened to the Assyrian, notwithstanding this service. But to destroy nations not a few To sacrifice multitudes of people to his own pride and covetousness, which was abominable impiety.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
10:6 I will send {f} him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I command him, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
(f) That is, the Assyrians against the Jews who are hypocrites. In the sixth and seventh verse is declared the difference of the work of God and of the wicked in one very thing and act: for God’s intention is to chastise them for their amendment, and the Assyrians purpose is to destroy them to enrich themselves. Thus in respect to God’s justice, it is God’s work, but in respect to their own malice, it is the work of the devil.