Isaiah 10 · Verse 5

Isaiah 10:5

O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
Isaiah 10:5, King James Version

Isaiah 10:5 in other translations

BSBWoe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.
WEBAlas Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation!
ASVHo Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, the staff in whose hand is mine indignation!
YLTWoe to Asshur, a rod of Mine anger, And a staff in their hand is Mine indignation.
DARBYAh! the Assyrian! the rod of mine anger! and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
BBEHo! Assyrian, the rod of my wrath, the instrument of my punishment!
WebsterO Assyrian, the rod of my anger, and the staff in their hand is my indignation.

What does Isaiah 10:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
5. O Assyrian, &c.--rather, "What, ho (but Maurer, Woe to the) Assyrian! He is the rod and staff of Mine anger (My instrument in punishing, Jr 51:20; Psa 17:13). In their hands is Mine indignation" [Horsley, after Jerome]. I have put into the Assyrians' hands the execution of Mine indignation against My people.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 5 O Assyrian "Ho to the Assyrian" - Here begins a new and distinct prophecy, continued to the end of the twelfth chapter: and it appears from Isa 10:9-11 of this chapter, that this prophecy was delivered after the taking of Samaria by Shalmaneser; which was in the sixth year of the reign of Hezekiah: and as the former part of it foretells the invasion of Sennacherib, and the destruction of his army, which makes the whole subject of this chapter it must have been delivered before the fourteenth of the same reign. The staff in their hand "The staff in whose hand" - The word הוא hu, the staff itself, in this place seems to embarrass the sentence. I omit it on the authority of the Alexandrine copy of the Septuagint: nine MSS., (two ancient), and one of my own, ancient, for ומטה הוא umatter hu, read מטהו mattehu, his staff. Archbishop Secker was not satisfied with the present reading. He proposes another method of clearing up the sense, by reading ביום beyom, in the day, instead of בידם beyadam, in their hand: "And he is a staff in the day of mine indignation."

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 10:5-19
See what a change sin made. The king of Assyria, in his pride, thought to act by his own will. The tyrants of the world are tools of Providence. God designs to correct his people for their hypocrisy, and bring them nearer to him; but is that Sennacherib's design? No; he designs to gratify his own covetousness and ambition. The Assyrian boasts what great things he has done to other nations, by his own policy and power. He knows not that it is God who makes him what he is, and puts the staff into his hand. He had done all this with ease; none moved the wing, or cried as birds do when their nests are rifled. Because he conquered Samaria, he thinks Jerusalem would fall of course. It was lamentable that Jerusalem should have set up graven images, and we cannot wonder that she was excelled in them by the heathen. But is it not equally foolish for Christians to emulate the people of the world in vanities, instead of keeping to things which are their special honour? For a tool to boast, or to strive against him that formed it, would not be more out of the way, than for Sennacherib to vaunt himself against Jehovah. When God brings his people into trouble, it is to bring sin to their remembrance, and humble them, and to awaken them to a sense of their duty; this must be the fruit, even the taking away of sin. When these points are gained by the affliction, it shall be removed in mercy. This attempt upon Zion and Jerusalem should come to nothing. God will be as a fire to consume the workers of iniquity, both soul and body. The desolation should be as when a standard-bearer fainteth, and those who follow are put to confusion. Who is able to stand before this great and holy Lord God?

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Isaiah 10:5 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ה֥וֹיHowoe to!H1945
אַשּׁ֖וּר'a.ShurAssyriaH804
שֵׁ֣בֶטShe.vet[the] rod ofH7626
אַפִּ֑י'a.Pianger myH639
וּמַטֶּה\־u.ma.teh-and [is] a staffH4294
ה֥וּאhu'itH1931
בְיָדָ֖םve.ya.Damin hand theirH3027
זַעְמִֽי\׃za'.Miindignation myH2195

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 10:5

  • Jeremiah 51:20-24

    Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider; With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers. …

  • Isaiah 30:30

    And the Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.

  • Zephaniah 2:13

    And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.

  • Isaiah 14:25

    That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.

  • Isaiah 10:15

    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.

  • Isaiah 13:5

    They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.

  • Isaiah 14:5-6

    The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.

  • Isaiah 66:14

    And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.

  • Isaiah 8:4

    For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

  • Psalms 17:14

    From men which are thy hand, O Lord, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

  • Psalms 125:3

    For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.

  • Genesis 10:11

    Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
O Assyrian. or, Woe to the Assyrian. Heb. O Asshur.
Ge 10:11
the rod.
15; 8:4; 14:5,6; Ps 17:14; 125:3; Jer 51:20-24
and. or, though.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 10:4

    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.

  • Isaiah 10:5

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

  • Isaiah 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.

Read all of Isaiah 10

Isaiah 10:5 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Oh Assur, vara y bastón de mi furor: en su mano he puesto mi ira.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Ha! l’Assyrie, verge de ma colère! Et le bâton qui est dans leur main, c’est mon indignation!
German
Elberfelder 1871		He! Assyrer, Rute meines Zornes! und der Stock in seiner Hand ist mein Grimm.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Væ Assur! virga furoris mei et baculus ipse est; in manu eorum indignatio mea.