Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 10:26
And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and [as] his rod [was] upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
And the Lord of hosts shall stir up – Or shall raise up that which shall rove as a scourge to him.
A scourge for him – That is, that which shall punish him. The scourge, or rod, is used to denote severe punishment of any kind. The nature of this punishment is immediately specified.
According to the slaughter of Midian – That is, as the Midianites were discomfitcd and punished. There is reference here, doubtless, to the discomfiture and slaughter of the Midianites by Gideon, as recorded in Jdg 7:24-25. That was signal and entire; and the prophet means to say, that the destruction of the Assyrian would be also signal and total. The country of Midian, or Madian, was on the east side of the Elanitic branch of the Red Sea; but it extended also north along the desert of mount Seir to the country of the Moabites; see the note at Isa 60:6.
At the rock of Oreb – At this rock, Gideon killed the two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb Jdg 7:25; and from this circumstance, probably, the name was given to the rock: Lev 11:15; Deu 14:14. It was on the east side of the Jordan.
And as his rod … – That is, as God punished the Egyptians in the Red Sea.
So shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt – As God overthrew the Egyptians in the Red Sea, so shall he overthrow and destroy the Assyrian. By these two comparisons, therefore, the prophet represents the complete destruction of the Assyrian army. In both of these cases, the enemies of the Jews had been completely overthrown, and so it would be in regard to the hosts of the Assyrian.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 10:26
According to the slaughter of Midian
Assyria and Midian
1.
As the hand of God was seen in the slaughter of the Midianites, so it was in the slaughter of the Assyrians.
2. As the Midianites were slain without loss of any of the Israelites, so were the Assyrians without any loss of the men of Judah.
3. As the whole army of the Midianites was overthrown, so was the whole army of the Assyrians.
4. As the Midianites were overthrown on a sudden, when their thoughts mind at the highest, so was the whole army of the Assyrians. (W. Day, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 26. And as his rod was upon the sea – “And like his rod which he lifted up over the sea”] The Jewish interpreters suppose here an ellipsis of ke, the particle of similitude, before mattehu, to be supplied from the line above; so that here are two similitudes, one comparing the destruction of the Assyrians to the slaughter of the Midianites at the rock of Oreb; the other to that of the Egyptians at the Red Sea. Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Sal. ben Melec.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Shall stir up a scourge; shall send a destroying angel, Isa 37:36.
According to the slaughter of Midian; whom God slew suddenly, and unexpectedly, and in the night, as he did the Assyrians.
At the rock of Oreb; upon which one of their chief princes was slain, and nigh unto which the Midianites were destroyed.
Was upon the sea, to smite and divide it, and so to make way both for thy deliverance, and for the destruction of the Egyptians.
After the manner of Egypt; as he did in Egypt, to bring his plagues upon that land and people.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26. slaughter of“strokeupon.”
Midian (Isa 9:4;Jdg 7:25).
as his rod was upon thesearather, understanding “stroke” from the previousclause, “according to the stroke of His rod upon the Red Sea”(Exo 14:16; Exo 14:26).His “rod” on the Assyrian (Isa 10:24;Isa 10:26) stands in boldcontrast to the Assyrian used as a “rod” to strike others(Isa 10:5).
after the manner of EgyptasHe lifted it up against Egypt at the Red Sea.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him,…. The Assyrian monarch; this scourge stirred up or awakened by the Lord, with which that monarch was severely scourged, is no other than the angel that was sent of God to destroy his army, 2Ki 19:35:
according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: this refers to the destruction of the Midianites in the time of Gideon; and suggests, that the slaughter of the Assyrians should be like that, as it was; for as that was in the night, and very general, and immediately from the hand of the Lord, and was unthought of, and unexpected, and such of their princes that fled were taken and slain, particularly Oreb, at the rock which took its name from him; for not mount Horeb, and the rock there smitten by Moses, are meant, which is written with different letters; see the history of this in Jud 7:19 so it was in the night when the Assyrian army was destroyed, and that wholly; and not by the Israelites, but by the Angel of the Lord; and at once, at an unawares; and though Sennacherib fled and escaped, he was slain by his own sons, in his own city, in the temple of his god,
2Ki 19:35:
and [as] his rod [was] upon the sea; referring to Moses’s rod, which was lifted up, by the order of the Lord, over the Red Sea, when the Egyptians were drowned:
so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt; and destroy the Assyrians, in like manner as he destroyed the Egyptians, all at once.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
26. And the LORD of hosts will stir up a scourge for him. Here Isaiah makes use of the word scourge, and not rod, meaning that the Lord will treat the enemies much more harshly and severely than they had treated the Jews. He threatens them with extermination, and makes it more evident by two examples; first, that of the Midianites, (Jud 7:25,) who were cut off by a dreadful slaughter in the valley of Oreb, which was so named from their leader, and, secondly, that of the Egyptians, whom the Lord, when they pursued after his people, sank in the Red Sea. (Exo 14:27.) In the former passage, he refers to a narrative which was somewhat more recent, and in the latter to one that was more ancient.
Hence we infer that the Lord hath displayed his power in defending his Church, in order that, when our affairs are in the most desperate state, we may remain steadfastly in the faith, and, relying on his grace, we still may cherish a pleasing hope. By means and in ways that are unexpected he often delivers his Church, as he did by the hands of Gideon and Moses. We ought always, therefore, to call to remembrance those benefits, that we may be excited more and more to confidence and perseverance.
Hence we ought also to infer that all the afflictions which we endure are the Lord’s rods with which he chastises us; and yet he does not permit Satan or his agents to inflict deadly chastisements upon us. On the other hand, an awful destruction awaits our enemies, as we see in the Midianites and Egyptians. It is therefore no small consolation that, when we compare our condition with theirs, we see them, for a time indeed, in all the madness of joy and of wickedness insulting the children of God, but at the same time learn what a dreadful sentence has been pronounced against them; for they are devoted to deadly and everlasting destruction.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(26) According to the slaughter of Midian.The historical associations of Isa. 9:4 are still in the prophets mind. In the history of Judges (Jdg. 7:25), Oreb and Zeeb are the names at once of the Midianite chiefs and of the places where they were slain.
As his rod was upon the sea.The italics spoil the sense. Better, His rod upon the sea . . . He shall lift it up after the manner of Egypt. The ambiguous formula which had been taken as primarily of evil boding in Isa. 10:24, is repeated as an augury of good. There was another rod prominent in that Egyptian history besides that of the oppressor, and that rod had been wielded by the deliverer.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26. The Lord shall stir up a scourge When that “scourge” comes it shall be sudden, like that of the Midianites by Gideon, and like that of Pharaoh in the Red Sea.
The rock of Oreb The place where the Ephraimites slew Oreb, a king of Midian. Jdg 7:25. Jehovah is imaged as swinging a whip over Assyria, and as stretching forth his staff or sceptre over the sea of troubles (such, no doubt, is its meaning) into which Israel and Judah were driven; and that sea is seen to divide for escape to Israel and for destruction to Assyria.
After the manner of Egypt That is, just as Pharaoh was overwhelmed in the Red Sea. This is a judgment occurring in prophetic time.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 10:26 And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and [as] his rod [was] upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
Ver. 26. And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him. ] Far worse than that rod. Isa 10:24 This scourge was that angel that slew so many Assyrians in a night, according to that “slaughter of Midian.” Jdg 7:22 Psa 83:9 ; Psa 83:11
At the rock of Oreb.
And as his rod was upon the sea.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
according to = like.
Midian. Compare Isa 9:4, and Jdg 7:25.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
stir up: Isa 10:16-19, 2Ki 19:35, Psa 35:23
according: Isa 9:4, Jdg 7:25, Psa 83:11
his rod: Isa 10:24, Isa 11:16, Isa 51:9, Isa 51:10, Exo 14:25-27, Neh 9:10, Neh 9:11, Psa 106:10, Psa 106:11, Hab 3:7-15, Rev 11:18, Rev 19:15
Reciprocal: Jdg 8:28 – was Midian 1Ki 11:14 – the Lord Psa 83:9 – as unto Jer 51:11 – the Lord hath
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
10:26 And the LORD of hosts shall raise up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of {t} Midian at the rock of Oreb: and [as] his rod [was] upon the {u} sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
(t) Read Isa 9:4 .
(u) When the Israelites passed through by the lifting up of Moses’ rod, and the enemies were drowned, Exo 14:28 .