Isaiah 10

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Reading Isaiah · Follow the poetry

Much of Isaiah is written in Hebrew poetry. Its lines often work together: one introduces a thought, and another echoes, contrasts with or develops it. Reading those relationships can make a difficult passage easier to follow.

Why Isaiah is displayed in lines

The Bible Directory sets poetic passages in lines to help you notice related phrases, repeated words and contrasting images. Narrative passages remain in paragraphs.

The biblical wording is unchanged. Line breaks and spacing are editorial reading aids; scholars and translators sometimes divide passages differently. A poetic thought may also continue across several numbered verses.

Read two lines together

Hear, O heavens,
and give ear, O earth:

Isaiah 1:2, KJV

“Give ear” echoes “hear,” while “heavens” and “earth” form a corresponding pair. Together, the lines broaden the address. Continue reading to see what these listeners are called to hear.

Patterns to notice

Synonymous parallelism · Echo and develop
Related words or images connect neighboring lines. Even when the lines sound similar, look for a difference in emphasis, detail or scope.

Antithetical parallelism · Set thoughts in contrast
Lines place contrasting actions, conditions or outcomes beside one another. Read both sides to understand how the contrast works.

Development or progression · Carry the thought further
A following line adds a detail, consequence, explanation or next step. Ask what becomes clearer as the thought unfolds.

Emblematic parallelism · Make a connection through imagery
An image or comparison develops a related thought. Notice how the image and the statement illuminate each other.

Climactic parallelism · Repeat and build
A word or phrase returns, then the next line adds something that advances or completes the expression.

These are descriptive tools, not fixed boxes. Scholars differ over some labels and how particular passages should be classified. A passage may combine several patterns.

Other structures worth noticing

Chiasmus · Return in reverse order
Words or ideas appear in a sequence, then return in reverse order—for example, A–B–B–A. Look for clear correspondences in the wording and structure before identifying a pattern.

Repetition · Follow a recurring phrase
Repeated words can connect several verses, emphasize a concern or mark a new movement within a poem.

Keep reading beyond the pair

Not every poetic passage consists of two matching lines. Follow the thought across the verse numbers, notice changes of speaker and watch how an image develops.

Start with one question: What does the next line add?

1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;

2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!

3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?

4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.

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.

7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.

8 For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?

9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?

10 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;

11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.

13 For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:

14 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.

15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.

16 Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.

17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;

18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth.

19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.

20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.

22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

23 For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.

24 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.

25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.

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.

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.

28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages:

29 They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.

30 Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.

31 Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee.

32 As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

33 Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.

34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.

World Behind This Chapter

Explore the people, places, language, history, and material world connected to Isaiah 10.

QUESTIONS WORTH EXPLORING

What historical setting lies behind Isaiah 10?

Assyria is named as the instrument of judgment and then as an arrogant empire itself subject to judgment.

How does Isaiah 10's imperial taunt + remnant oracle shape the chapter?

The chapter juxtaposes Assyria’s boastful speech with a counter-voice that reduces the empire to an axe in another hand.

Why does Isaiah call Assyria an axe or saw?

The tool metaphor separates imperial self-understanding from the poem’s theological framing: Assyria imagines autonomous conquest, while the oracle depicts it as an instrument whose own arrogance becomes accountable.

Research PathsCurated links for exploring this chapter 3
History & Daily Life1
Language & Literature1
Artifacts & Manuscripts1
  • The Assyrian Siege of LachishBritish Museum

    Introduces the palace reliefs portraying Sennacherib’s 701 BCE capture of the major Judahite city of Lachish. The scenes of siege engines, archers, captives, tribute, and deportation vividly illustrate the military system behind Isaiah’s descriptions of Assyrian advance, terror, and imperial boasting.

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