Isaiah 10:5–7
God uses Assyria as a rod, but Assyria does not see it that way
Study it word by word5Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger! And the staff in their hand is my indignation.
6Against a godless nation I send it, and against the people of my fury I command it, to take spoil and to seize plunder, and to make it a thing trampled like the mud of the streets.
7But he does not imagine it so, and his heart does not plan so; for to destroy is in his heart, and to cut off nations not a few.
In its context
3And what will you do on the day of visitation, and in the storm that will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth?
4Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners, and among the slain they will fall. For all this his anger has not turned back, and his hand is still stretched out.
…
8For he says, “Are not my princes all kings?
9Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?
Its words in the original
- הוֹיhoy· alas, ah
Alas! An exclamation of grief or warning. It was used in the lament for a dead person ("Alas, my brother!") and, in the prophets, to announce disaster.
- אַשּׁוּרashur· Assyria, Asshur
Assyria (in Hebrew, Asshur): a region and people of northern Mesopotamia, later a great empire; also the name of a son of Shem.
- שֵׁבֶטshevet· rod, scepter, tribe
Rod, staff; a king's scepter; also tribe.
- אַפִּapi· anger, nose
Nose, nostrils. Since breathing grows hard in anger, the same word also means "anger"; sometimes "face".
- מַטֶּהmate· staff; tribe
Staff, rod, branch. Elsewhere, tribe.
- יָדָyada· hand, power
Hand. Figuratively, power or control ("into the hand of" = into the power of); also side, part, or share. Also a projecting piece, such as a tenon.
- זַעְמִzami· indignation, fury
Indignation: fury, especially God's anger at evil.
- גוֹיgoy· nation
Nation, a people with its land. In the plural, "the nations": all the peoples of the world, and especially those who are not Israel.
- חָנֵףchanef· godless, profane
Godless: one who lives without regard for God; defiled, profane.
- אֲשַׁלְּחֶashalche· send, stretch out
Send; stretch out (the hand); let go, send away, set free.
- עַםam· people
People: a human group joined by kinship, history and destiny. "My people", said by God, is Israel. Also the people as a crowd, or troops.
- עֶבְרָתִevrati· fury
Overflowing rage, fury.
- אֲצַוֶּatsave· command
Command, give an order; give charge to someone.
- שְׁלֹלshelol· pull out, plunder
Pull out, draw something out to set it aside. Elsewhere, "strip" or "plunder."
- שָׁלָלshalal· spoil, plunder
Spoil: what is taken from a defeated enemy.
- בֹזvoz· plunder
Plunder, take spoil.
- בַּזbaz· plunder, booty
Plunder: what the victor carries off from the defeated.
- שׂוּמsum· put, set
Put, place, set; appoint, establish; make something into something.
- מִרְמָסmirmas· trampling, trampled ground
Trampling; what is trodden down underfoot.
- חֹמֶרchomer· clay, mortar; homer
Clay, mud, mortar. Also a heap, and a homer, a large dry measure.
- חוּצוֹתchutsot· outside
Outside, outdoors; the street.
- יְדַמֶּהyedame· think, intend; be like
Think, intend; also compare or be like.
- לְבָבlevav· heart
Heart: the inner part of the person, where one thinks, feels and decides.
- יַחְשֹׁבyachshov· think, count, devise
Think, consider; count something as something else ("count as", "credit as"). Also devise, design, plan, often evil: "the work of a skilled craftsman" is, literally, "the work of one who designs".
- הַשְׁמִידhashmid· destroy
Destroy completely, exterminate.
- הַכְרִיתhachrit· cut, cut off
Cut, cut down. Said of a living being, cut off, destroy. "Cut a covenant" is the Hebrew expression for making a covenant, because it was sealed by cutting animals in two (Genesis 15).
- מְעָטmeat· little, few
A little; few.