Isaiah 10

Isaiah 10 is the tenth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains prophesies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Prophetic Books.^[1]

Isaiah 10
← chapter 9 chapter 11 →
The Great Isaiah Scroll, the best preserved of the biblical scrolls found at Qumran from the second century BC, contains all the verses in this chapter.
Book	Book of Isaiah
Hebrew Bible part	Nevi'im
Order in the Hebrew part	5
Category	Latter Prophets
Christian Bible part	Old Testament
Order in the Christian part	23

Text

The original text was written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 34 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008).^[2]

Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls (3rd century BC or later):^[3]

• 1QIsa^a: complete
• 1QIsa^b: extant: verses 16‑19
• 4QIsa^c (4Q57): extant: verses 23‑32
• 4QIsa^e (4Q59): extant: verses 1‑10

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^S; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^Q; 6th century).^[4]

Parashot

The parashah sections listed here are based on the Aleppo Codex.^[5] Isaiah 10 is a part of the Prophecies about Judah and Israel (Isaiah 1-12). {P}: open parashah; {S}: closed parashah.

{S} 10:1-4 {P} 10:5-11 {P} 10:12-15 {P} 10:16-19 {S} 10:20-23 {P} 10:24-32 {P} 10:33-34 {S}

Woe to tyrants (10:1–4)

Verse 1

Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees

and who write unjust judgments which they have prescribed^[6]

Verses 1–4 function as a bridge between series of passages ending with the same refrain (cf. verse 4; continuing the discourse of Isaiah 9, and extends the "woes" set out in chapter 5), and the attack on Assyria, which shares one introduction.^[7]

Verse 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.^[8]

The refrain "For all this ... still" first appeared in Isaiah 5:25 and also appears here as well as in Isaiah 9:12, 9:17, and 9:21.^[9]

Judgment on Assyria (10:5–19)

Isaiah condemns Assyria for not realising that it is "an instrument of divine wrath upon all Israel":

"Can an ax claim to be greater than the one who uses it?^[10]

A remnant of Israel shall return (10:20–34)

Verse 21

The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.^[11]

• "[The] mighty God": from Hebrew אֵל גִּבּוֹר, ʾel gibbor, appears only here and in Isaiah 9:6, although similar titles appear in Deuteronomy 10:17 and Nehemiah 9:32 ["the great, mighty, and awesome God"] and in Jeremiah 32:18 ["the great and mighty God"]; all titles refer to God.^[12]

Verses 22–23

For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea,

A remnant of them will return;

The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

For the Lord God of hosts

Will make a determined end

In the midst of all the land.^[13]

There verses are cited by the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans (chapter 9:27–28).

See also

• Paul of Tarsus
• Related Bible parts: Romans 9

Notes and references

1. Theodore Hiebert, et al. 1996. The New Interpreter's Bible: Volume VI. Nashville: Abingdon.
2. Würthwein 1995, pp. 35–37.
3. Ulrich 2010, p. 350-352.
4. Würthwein 1995, pp. 73–74.
5. As reflected in the Jewish Publication Society's 1917 edition of the Hebrew Bible in English.
6. Isaiah 10:1–4 MEV
7. Coggins 2007, p. 447.
8. Isaiah 10:4 KJV
9. Note [b] on Isaiah 9:12 in NET Bible
10. Isaiah 10:15 GNT
11. Isaiah 10:21 MEV
12. Note on Isaiah 10:21 in NET Bible
13. Isaiah 10:22–23 NKJV

Sources

• Coggins, R (2007). "22. Isaiah". In Barton, John; Muddiman, John (eds.). The Oxford Bible Commentary (first (paperback) ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 433–486. ISBN 978-0199277186. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
• Ulrich, Eugene, ed. (2010). The Biblical Qumran Scrolls: Transcriptions and Textual Variants. Brill.
• Würthwein, Ernst (1995). The Text of the Old Testament. Translated by Rhodes, Erroll F. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-0788-7. Retrieved January 26, 2019.

External links

Jewish

• Isaiah 10: Hebrew with Parallel English

Christian

• Isaiah 10 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate Archived 2020-09-22 at the Wayback Machine