Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 10:27
And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
His burden shall be taken away – The oppressions and exactions of the Assyrian.
From off thy shoulder – We bear a burden on the shoulder; and hence, any grievous exaction or oppression is represented as borne upon the shoulder.
And his yoke … – Another image denoting deliverance from oppression and calamity.
And the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing – In the interpretation of these words, expositors have greatly differed. The Hebrew is literally, From the face of oil, – mpeney–shamen. The Vulgate renders it, literally, a facie olei. The Septuagint, His fear shall be taken from thee, and his yoke from thy shoulders. The Syraic, His yoke shall be broken before the oxen. The Chaldee Paraphrase, The people shall be broken before the Messiah? Lowth renders it, The yoke shall perish from off our shoulders; following the Septuagint. Grotius suggests that it means that the yoke which the Assyrians had imposed upon the Jews would be broken by Hezekiah, the king who had been annointed with oil. Jarchi also supposes that it refers to one who was anointed – to the king; and many interpreters have referred it to the Messiah, as the anointed of God. Vitringa supposes that the Holy Spirit is here intended.
Kimchi supposes, that the figure is derived from the effect of oil on wood in destroying its consistency, and loosening its fibres; and that the expression means, that the yoke would be broken or dissolved as if it were penetrated with oil. But this is ascribing a property to oil which it does not possess. Dr. Seeker supposes that, instead of oil, the text should read shoulder, by a slight change in the Hebrew. But for this conjectural reading there is no authority. Cocceius supposes, that the word oil here means fatness, and is used to denote prosperity and wealth, and that the prophet means to say, that the Assyrian would be corrupted and destroyed by the great amount of wealth which he would amass. The rabbis say, that this deliverance was performed on account of the great quantity of oil which Hezekiah caused to be consumed in the synagogues for the study of the law – a striking instance of the weak and puerile methods of interpretation which they have everywhere evinced. I confess that none of these explanations seem to me to be satisfactory, and that I do not know what is the meaning of the expression.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 10:27-34
His burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder
A picturesque representation of the invasion of Judah
(Isa 10:28-34):–The description here given, when looked at aesthetically, is one of the most picturesque and magnificent representations that human poetry has ever produced.
He comes upon Ayyath, marches through Migron, in Michmash he leaves his baggage. They march right across the ravine;–let Geba be our night quarters! Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees; scream loud, O daughter of Gallim! O only listen, Laysha! Poor Anathoth! Hurries Madmena, the inhabitants of Gebim rescue. Today he still makes a halt in Nob,–swings his hand over the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. Behold, the All-Lord, Jehovah of hosts, lops down the branches with terrible force, and those of towering growth are hewn down, and the lofty are laid low. And He fells the thickets of the forest with the iron; and Lebanon, by a majestic One it falls. (F. Delitzsch.)
The actualities of faith
The prophetic confidence in a Divine must be leads to the description of it as an actuality. Faith sees not the difficulties that reason emphasises; but laughs at impossibilities, saying, It shall be done. (B. Blake, B. D.)
Gods providence critical and retributive
This is the providence, then, under which we live. Facts prove it. We are under law and criticism of a moral kind: our conduct is examined, our motives are inquired into and pronounced upon by the just One; every morning is as a white throne set in the heavens; every noonday is as an eye of fire watching the ways of men; every night is a pavilion of rest, or an image of despair. The axe of heaven is lifted up against all the thick trees that suppose themselves to be independent of God. All moral loveliness is cherished as the pearl greater in value than all others. This is the economy under which we live! We are not left without law, judgment, supervision, criticism; every one of us must give an account of himself to God. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing. If for a few years we grow towards strength, we soon turn the growing point, and go down into old age and weakness, that we may know ourselves to be but men. Life is a great triumph up to middle age, because the man may be always wen; he may grow in strength and in prosperity, and he may represent himself as a successful fowler; but after that grey hairs are here and there upon him, and he knoweth it not, and presently men may say as he passes by, He stoops a little more; his memory will begin to be a little blurred and clouded, and though he can keep good reckoning, yet he must trust to paper more than he ever trusted before. If we plant vineyards and forests, and subdue wildernesses by generous culture, we die whilst we gaze on our success, and are buried under the very flowers which have rewarded our toil. This is the economy under which the nations have ever lived, and under which every little life works out its little day. (J. Parker, D. D.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 27. From off thy shoulder] Bishop Lowth translates the whole verse thus: –
“And it shall come to pass in that day,
His burden shall be removed from off thy shoulder;
And his yoke off thy neck:
Yea, the yoke shall perish from off your shoulders.”
On which he gives us the following note: I follow here the Septuagint, who for mippeney shamen read mishshichmeychem, , from your shoulders, not being able to make any good sense out of the present reading. I will add here the marginal conjectures of Archbishop Secker, who appears, like all others, to have been at a loss for a probable interpretation of the text as it now stands. “o. leg. shakam; forte legend. mibbeney shamen, vide cap. Isa 5:1. Zec 4:14: Et possunt intelligi Judaei uncti Dei, Ps 105:15, vel Assyrii, mishmannim, hic Isa 10:16, ut dicat propheta depulsum iri jugum ab his impositum: sed hoc durius. Vel potest legi mippeney shami.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
His burden; the burden of the Assyrian: for so it was actively, because imposed by him; though passively it was Israels burden, as being laid upon him. Because of the anointing; out of the respect which I bear to that holy unction which I have established amongst you. And so this may relate either,
1. To the body of the people, who were in some sort anointed, being made by God a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation, Exo 19:6; or,
2. To that sacred kingdom which God had, by his positive precept and solemn covenant, established in David and his posterity for ever. The Jews therefore, and some others, understand this of Hezekiah, to whom God had a singular respect, and upon whose prayers God gave this deliverance, as we read, Isa 37:15, &c. Possibly it might be better understood of David, who is oft mentioned in Scripture by the name of Gods anointed, as Psa 20:6; 89:20; 132:17, and elsewhere; and for whose sake God gave many deliverances to the succeeding kings and ages, as is expressly affirmed, 1Ki 11:32,34; 2Ki 8:19. And, which is more considerable, God declareth that he would give this very deliverance from the Assyrian for Davids sake, 2Ki 19:34; 20:6. But the Messiah, I doubt not, is here principally intended, of whom David was but a type, and who was in a peculiar manner anointed above all his fellows, as is said, Psa 45:7. For he is the foundation of all the promises, 2Co 1:20, and of all the deliverances and mercies granted to Gods people in all ages; whence this very prophet makes use of this great promise of the Messiah, as an assurance that God would make good his promises of particular deliverances from their present or approaching calamities, as Isa 7:14, &c.; Isa 9:4, &c. And therefore the prophet might well say, that God would grant this deliverance for Christs sake; especially if it be considered, that this was the very reason why God had promised, and did so constantly perform, his mercy promised unto the tribe of Judah, and unto the house of David, until the coming of the Messiah, because the Messiah was to come of the tribe of Judah, and of the posterity of David, and was to succeed David in his throne and kingdom; and he was to be known by this character; and therefore this tribe, and house, and kingdom were to continue, and that in a visible manner, till Christ came.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
27. his burdenthe Assyrians’oppression (Isa 9:3). Judah wasstill tributary to Assyria; Hezekiah had not yet revolted, as he didin the beginning of Sennacherib’s reign.
because of (Ho10:15).
the anointingnamely,”Messiah” (Da 9:24).Just as in Isa 9:4-6, the”breaking of the yoke of” the enemies’ “burden andstaff” is attributed to Messiah, “For unto usa child is born,” c., so it is here. MAURERnot so well translates, “Because of the fatness” an imageof the Assyrians fierce and wanton pride drawn from a well-fed bulltossing off the yoke (De 32:15).So Isa 10:16 above, and Isa5:17, “fat ones.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder,…. The tax or tribute imposed upon Hezekiah by the king of Assyria, 2Ki 18:14:
and his yoke from off thy neck; the same with the burden; unless it means also the subjection of the cities of Judah, which were taken by the Assyrian; and indeed it may be extended further, and be considered as a prophecy not merely of deliverance from the present distress, but from the future captivity in Babylon; and which was a type of the deliverance and redemption by Christ, when the Lord’s people were delivered from the burden of sin, the guilt and punishment of it; from the yoke of the law, the yoke of bondage; and from the tyranny of Satan, and out of the hand of every enemy; and this seems to be hinted at in the next clause:
and thy yoke shall be destroyed, because of the anointing; or, “be corrupted, because of fatness” u; through the multitude of riches and honours, with which the Assyrian monarchy abounded; which fill with pride, introduce luxury, and so bring ruin, on a state. Jarchi and Kimchi interpret the anointing of Hezekiah, the anointed king of Israel, for whose sake the Assyrian yoke was destroyed. The Rabbins say, that this deliverance was wrought on account of the large quantity of oil which Hezekiah consumed in the schools and synagogues, for the study of the law, and the explanation of it; but the Targum much better refers it to the Messiah,
“the people shall be broken from before the Messiah;”
who was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows, and for whose sake, and by whom, the yoke of sin, Satan, and the law, has been destroyed. Vitringa interprets it of the Spirit of God, and his powerful operations, whose gifts and graces are often compared to oil and ointment; and makes the words parallel to Zec 4:6.
u “et corrumpetur jugum propter oleum”, Cocceius; “prae pinguedine”, Quidam in Munster.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The yoke of the imperial power would then burst asunder. “And it will come to pass in that day, its burden will remove from thy shoulder, and its yoke from thy neck; and the yoke will be destroyed from the pressure of the fat.” We have here two figures: in the first ( cessabit onus ejus a cervice tua ) Israel is represented as a beast of burden; in the second ( et jugum ejus a collo tuo ), as a beast of draught. And this second figure is divided again into two fields. For yasur merely affirms that the yoke, like the burden, will be taken away from Israel; but chubbal , that the yoke itself will snap, from the pressure of his fat strong neck against it. Knobel, who alters the text, objects to this on the ground that the yoke was a cross piece of wood, and not a collar. And no doubt the simple yoke is a cross piece of wood, which is fastened to the forehead of the ox (generally of two oxen yoked together: jumenta = jugmenta, like jugum, from jungere); but the derivation of the name itself, ol , from alal , points to the connection of the cross piece of wood with a collar, and here the yoke is expressly described as lying round the neck (and not merely fastened against the forehead). There is no necessity, therefore, to read chebel ( chablo ), as Knobel proposes; chubbal (Arabic chubbila ) indicates her a corrumpi consequent upon a disrumpi. (On p’ne , vid., Job 41:5; and for the application of the term mippene to energy manifesting itself in its effects, compare Psa 68:3 as an example.) Moreover, as Kimchi has observed, in most instances the yoke creates a wound in the fat flesh of the ox by pressure and friction; but here the very opposite occurs, and the fatness of the ox leads to the destruction of the yoke (compare the figure of grafting employed in Rom 11:17, to which Paul gives a turn altogether contrary to nature). Salvation, as the double turn in the second figure affirms, comes no less from within ( Isa 10:27) than from without ( Isa 10:27). It is no less a consequence of the world-conquering grace at work in Isaiah, than a miracle wrought for Israel upon their foes.
The prophet now proceeds to describe how the Assyrian army advances steadily towards Jerusalem, spreading terror on every hand, and how, when planted there like a towering forest, it falls to the ground before the irresistible might of Jehovah. Eichhorn and Hitzig pronounce this prophecy a vaticinium post eventum , because of its far too special character; but Knobel regards it as a prophecy, because no Assyrian king ever did take the course described; in other words, as a mere piece of imagination, as Ewald maintains. Now, no doubt the Assyrian army, when it marched against Jerusalem, came from the southwest, namely, from the road to Egypt, and not directly from the north. Sennacherib had conquered Lachish; he then encamped before Libnah, and it was thence that he advanced towards Jerusalem. But the prophet had no intention of giving a fragment out of the history of the war: all that he meant to do was to give a lively representation of the future fact, that after devastating the land of Judah, the Assyrian would attack Jerusalem. There is no necessity whatever to contend, as Drechsler does, against calling the description an ideal one. There is all the difference in the world between idea and imagination. Idea is the essential root of the real, and the reality is its historical form. This form, its essential manifestation, may be either this or that, so far as individual features are concerned, without any violation of its essential character. What the prophet here predicts has, when properly interpreted, been all literally fulfilled. The Assyrian did come from the north with the storm-steps of a conqueror, and the cities named were really exposed to the dangers and terrors of war. And this was what the prophet depicted, looking as he did from a divine eminence, and drawing from the heart of the divine counsels, and then painting the future with colours which were but the broken lights of those counsels as they existed in his own mind.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
27. And it shall come to pass in that day. It is uncertain whether he now speaks of the deliverance which took place under Zerubbabel, (2Ch 36:22; Ezr 1:2,) or of that wonderful overthrow of Sennacherib, (2Kg 19:35,) when he besieged Jerusalem with a huge army. This latter opinion is almost universally preferred; and indeed it appears to be supported by what follows, for immediately afterwards he gives a description of the country, and enumerates the chief places through which Sennacherib should conduct his army, till he arrived at Jerusalem itself, so that there appeared to be nothing at all to hinder him from taking possession of the city. With this opinion I partly agree, but I extend the prediction farther.
Isaiah intends to comfort the godly who were involved in the present distress. It might be thought that the promise failed, and that the calamities which immediately followed were utterly at variance with it. For instance, if the Lord promise to give me food for next year, and yet leave me altogether destitute of it, what faith can I have in a promise so distant, if the Lord do not rescue me from the present distress? Thus, the Lord’s promise, in which he had said that he would deliver his people from Babylon, and would continually assist them, may be thought to have failed, when it was exposed to the jaws of that huge wild beast. With the view of meeting this objection, the Prophet includes both promises, that the Lord will be the guardian of his people, till at length he deliver them from death. Some limit it to the slaughter (2Kg 19:35) of Sennacherib’s army; but as Isaiah promises the loosing, or breaking of the yoke, I have no doubt that he describes deliverance from captivity. Yet he confirms the promise, that God will not only rescue them from Babylon, but will also aid them against the besieging army of the tyrant, whom he will not suffer to go beyond what has been threatened.
That his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, He describes that tyranny in two ways, in order to illustrate more fully how great was the blessing of deliverance. If it be thought best to refer it to Sennacherib, he had not laid on the Jews so grievous a yoke. The people paid only some tribute, as we learn from sacred history. (2Kg 23:33; 2Ch 36:3.) Why then has he employed two names in describing this tyranny? It may be pleaded that he had in his eye the approaching danger; for that tyrant, like a huge beast of prey, had devoured the whole of Judea by his voraciousness, and had oppressed them to such an extent, that it appeared to be almost impossible that his yoke could ever be taken off. But I have already explained the view which I prefer, that he describes the uninterrupted course of the favor of God down to the time of redemption.
And the yoke shall be destroyed from the face of the anointing. (173) The phrase, the face of the anointing, is explained by some to mean the fatness with which the yoke is besmeared. But that interpretation is too farfetched. Others more correctly view שמן ( shamen) as bearing its ordinary signification, and as denoting anointing or oil. He again reminds them of Christ, and shows that through his kindness they will be delivered from that tyranny. Anointing is the name given to that kingdom which the Lord had set apart for himself, and which he therefore wished to keep unspotted and undiminished. When the Prophets intend to applaud the majesty of that kingdom, they speak of the anointing which the Lord had bestowed on it as a distinguishing mark, because it was a type of Christ. (Psa 45:7.) Though God established the rest of the kingdoms, still they were in some respects profane; this ranked above them as holy and sacred, because the Lord reigned over Judea in a peculiar manner, and because under this figure of a kingdom he held up Christ to their view. For this reason, also, it was promised to Solomon that his throne would be everlasting. ( 2 Samuel 7:13; 1Ch 22:10; Psa 89:5.) As to the interpretation given by some, that שמן ( shamen) denotes the king himself, not only is it too farfetched, but it conveys no solid instruction.
The Prophet therefore points out the means of overthrowing that tyranny; for it appeared as if there were no reason to believe that the yoke of so powerful a tyrant would be broken. He shows that this will arise from the heavenly anointing of that kingdom, that all may perceive that this benefit depends on the power of Christ, and not on the ability of man or on chance.
(173) Because of the anointing. — Eng. Ver.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(27) The yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing . . .The English, as it stands, is scarcely intelligible, but suggests the idea that the anointing was that which marked out the kings and priests of Judah as a consecrated people, and the remembrance of which would lead Jehovah to liberate them from bondage. Most commentators, however, render by reason of the fat, the implied figure being that of a bullock which grows so fat that the yoke will no longer go round his neck, as the symbol of a people waxing strong and asserting its freedom. Comp. Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked (Deu. 32:15).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
27. In that day That is, the day when this prediction, uttered in ideal time, shall be actually fulfilled.
His burden The imperial subjection on the true Israel.
His yoke The yoke, as borne by oxen, is always in Scripture a metaphor for subjection.
Shall be taken away Shall depart as if spontaneously.
Shall be destroyed Or, shall vanish, as into nonexistence.
Because of the anointing Literally, from before the oil: in the presence of an anointed new king of Israel, of whom David was the type. Chap. 11 treats of these times in more glorious fulness.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 10:27 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
Ver. 27. And the yoke shall be destroyed, because of the anointing. ] That is, because or for the sake of Messiah the Prince, Dan 9:25 the Lord Christ, our S and Sospitator, the foundation of all the Church’s deliverances. The whole chapter following is a comment on this sweet promise.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
shall be destroyed = will rot.
because of the anointing = before the face (at the sight) of the oil: i.e. in Gideon’s lamps; and of the anointed One (Messiah).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
his burden: Isa 9:4, Isa 14:25, 2Ki 18:13, 2Ki 18:14, Nah 1:9-13
be taken away: Heb. remove
because: Isa 37:35, 2Sa 1:21, Psa 2:1-3, Psa 2:6, *marg. Psa 20:6, Psa 45:7, Psa 84:9, Psa 89:20-52, Psa 105:15, Psa 132:10, Psa 132:17, Psa 132:18, Dan 9:24-26, Luk 4:18, Joh 1:41, *marg. Act 4:27, 1Jo 2:20, 1Jo 2:27
Reciprocal: Exo 28:41 – anoint them Lev 7:35 – portion Num 18:8 – by reason Psa 81:6 – I removed Isa 49:25 – Even Jer 2:20 – For of Jer 30:8 – I Eze 30:18 – I shall break Eze 34:27 – when I Nah 1:13 – will I
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE YOKE-DESTROYING ANOINTING
The yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
Isa 10:27
I. The Assyrian yoke of old was not so real, so tangible, so continually felt a yoke, as that under which many a child of God is writhing; yet they are called unto liberty, even the glorious liberty of the children of God. And if the yoke of sin is felt to be real, the promised destruction of it surely will not be less so. If it is, as we know by sorrowful experience, no imaginary bondage, neither shall the deliverance be imaginary.
II. You feel the yoke, but how shall it be destroyed?(1) Because of the grand anointing of our Lord Jesus Christ by God Himself with the Holy Ghost and with power, to proclaim liberty to the captives; the grace and might of the Triune Jehovah thus combining in the proclamation of the liberty which Jesus purchased by taking upon Him the form of a slave and becoming obedient to death.
(2) Because of the anointing which we have received of Him, because the precious ointment upon our High Priests head goes down to the skirts of His garments, shared by His least and lowest members.
Perhaps we stop here and say, But I cannot realise that I have received it, because my yoke is heavy upon me. Then see how you shall receive it; there is only one waynot by fresh revelation or special voice from heaven, but simply by faiththat ye might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Give glory to God, and be fully persuaded that what He has promised He is able also to perform; and His free Spirit will be faithful to His promise, and the yoke, even your yoke, shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
(1) The yoke of spiritual death is destroyed by faith in the atoning sacrifice.
(2) The yoke of spiritual weakness is destroyed by the anointing of the Spirits power.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Isa 10:27. In that day his burden shall be taken away, &c. The burden imposed on the Jews by the Assyrian. They shall not only be eased of the Assyrian army, now quartered upon them, and which was a grievous yoke and burden on them; but they shall no more pay that tribute to the king of Assyria which, before this invasion, he had exacted from them, 2Ki 18:14; shall no longer be at his service, nor lie at his mercy, as they had done; nor shall he ever again put the country under contribution. Perhaps, as some think, the promise may look to the deliverance of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon, if not also to the redemption of believers from the tyranny of sin and Satan. Because of the anointing Hebrew, , literally, Because of, from before, or, from the presence of, the oil, ointment, or fatness. Leigh says, Est nomen generale ad omnem pinguedinem sive naturalem, sive conditam: It is a general name for every kind of fatness, whether natural or artificial. Hence some translate the sentence, The yoke shall be loosed because of the fatness; supposing the meaning to be, that the affairs of the Jews would be in so good a condition, signified by fatness, after this destruction of the Assyrian army, that the Assyrians would not pretend any longer to lay any burden of tribute, or any impositions upon them, as they had done, ever since Ahaz put himself under their protection, and, as it were, made a surrender of himself and people to them, to become tributary to them. But the common interpretation given of the text seems preferable, namely, The yoke shall be destroyed, because of the (oil, unction, or) anointing That is, out of regard to the holy unction, which God had established among his people. Or, for the preservation of the priesthood and kingdom, priests and kings being both initiated into their offices by the ceremony of anointing. The Jews, therefore, and some others, apply this to Hezekiah, who was the anointed of the Lord, an active reformer, and very dear to God, and in answer to whose prayers, as we read, (Isa 37:15,) God gave this deliverance. But possibly it might be better understood of David, who is often mentioned in Scripture by the name of Gods anointed; and for whose sake God gave many deliverances to the succeeding kings and ages, as is expressly affirmed 1Ki 11:32; 1Ki 11:34. And, which is more considerable, God declares that he would give this very deliverance from the Assyrian for Davids sake, 2Ki 19:34; 2Ki 20:6. But the Messiah is principally intended, of whom David was but a type; and who was in a particular manner anointed above his fellows, as is said Psa 45:7. For he is the foundation of all the promises, (2Co 1:20,) and of all the deliverances and mercies granted to Gods people in all ages. Vitringa is of opinion, that the prophet, in this last passage, rises in his ideas; and, having expressed the temporal deliverance of the church in the preceding clauses, here seals up the period with a consolatory clause, admonishing the pious of their deliverance from a spiritual yoke, that is, from all the power of sin and Satan, and their vindication into the full and perfect liberty of the sons of God, through Jesus Christ, the king of his church, who, for this purpose, would communicate an abundance of the anointing spirit of wisdom, knowledge, prayer, liberty, and adoption: see Zec 4:6. The reader may see an explication and defence of this interpretation in Vitringa on the place.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
10:27 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of {x} the anointing.
(x) Because of the promise made to that kingdom, by which Christ’s kingdom was prefigured.