The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 10:5
O Assyrian ; literally, Ho! Asshur . "Asshur" is the nation personified, and is here addressed as an individual. The transition from Isaiah 10:1-4 is abrupt, and may be taken to indicate an accidental juxtaposition of two entirely distinct prophecies. Or Assyria may be supposed to have been in the prophet's thought, though not in his words, when he spoke of "prisoners" and "slain" in the first clause of Isaiah 10:4 . The rod of mine anger (comp. Jeremiah 51:20 , where it is said... read more
The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 10:4
Without me . That this is a possible rendering of the word used seems proved by Hosea 13:4 . But here it scarcely suits the context. God does not speak directly, in the first person, elsewhere in the entire prophecy (Isa 9:8-10:4), but is spoken of in the third person throughout, as even in the present verse, where we have "his anger," "his hand." It is better, therefore, to give the word its ordinary meaning—"unless," "except." Have they anywhere to flee to, unless they shall crouch amid... read more