EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Isaiah 10:15
15The Lord says this: ‘The axe has no more power than the person who uses it. A saw is not more important than the person who cuts with it. A stick cannot lift up the man who holds it. No, it is the man that lifts up the stick!’
Isaiah 10:15 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it, or the saw boast against the one who uses it? As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up, or a club brandish the one who is not wood!
- English Standard Version (ESV)Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
- New King James Version (NKJV)Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it? Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it? As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up, Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood!
Context of Isaiah 10:15
13The king of Assyria says this: ‘I have won these battles because of my own strength. I have been very wise and clever. I have marched into nations as if they had no borders. I have taken their valuable things for myself. Like a wild bull, I have removed kings from their thrones. 14I robbed them of their riches, like a person who takes eggs from a bird's nest. I was able to bring all the nations under my power. None of them could stop me. No bird could shake its wing at me, or open its mouth to cry at me!’ The Lord says this: ‘The axe has no more power than the person who uses it. A saw is not more important than the person who cuts with it. A stick cannot lift up the man who holds it. No, it is the man that lifts up the stick!’ 16So the Lord, the Almighty Lord, will punish Assyria's soldiers. They are now fat and healthy, but they will become thin! It will be like a fire that burns them, with all their proud strength. 17The holy God, who is the Light of Israel, will become like a fire. Assyria's soldiers will be like weeds and thorn bushes and the fire will destroy them in one day.
Read all of Isaiah 10Isaiah 10:15 word by word
הֲיִתְפָּאֵר֙ הַגַּרְזֶ֔ן עַ֖ל הַחֹצֵ֣ב בּ֑וֹ אִם־יִתְגַּדֵּ֤ל הַמַּשּׂוֹר֙ עַל־מְנִיפ֔וֹ כְּהָנִ֥יף שֵׁ֙בֶט֙ וְאֶת־מְרִימָ֔יו כְּהָרִ֥ים מַטֶּ֖ה לֹא־עֵֽץ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Shall the axeגַּרְזֶןgarzen · axeH1631
- boastפָּאַרpâ'ar · to beautifyH6286
- itself against him that hewethחָצַבchâtsab châtsêb · to hewH2672
- shall the sawמַשּׂוֹרmaώώôr · sawH4883
- magnifyגָּדַלgâdal · to magnifyH1431
- itself against him that shakethנוּףnûph · to waveH5130
- it? as if the rodשֵׁ֫בֶטshêbeţ · tribe: staffH7626
- against them that lift it upרוּםrûm · to exaltH7311
- as if the staffמַטֶּהmaţţeh maţţâh · tribe: rodH4294
- no woodעֵץ‛êts · tree: woodH6086
Cross-references for Isaiah 10:15
- Isaiah 10:5It will be very bad for Assyria! I will use its army to punish my people, because I am angry with them. Assyria will be like a stick that I use to beat my people. That is how I will show them my anger.
- Psalms 17:13Lord, please do something! Fight against them! Knock them down! Take your sword and save me from those wicked men.
- Jeremiah 51:20‘You are the weapon that I use to fight my battles. I have used you to punish nations. I have used you to destroy kingdoms.
- Ezekiel 28:9When your enemies attack you, you will no longer say, ‘I am a god.’ When they are ready to kill you, you will know that you are only human.
- Romans 9:20But you are only human. You have no authority to speak against God like that. God has made you. A pot cannot speak against the person who made it! It cannot ask him, ‘Why did you make me like this?’
Commentaries on Isaiah 10:15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15No wood "Its master" - I have here given the meaning, without attempting to keep to the expression of the original, עץ לא lo ets, "the no-wood;" that which is not wood like itself, but of a quite different and superior nature. The Hebrews have a peculiar way of joining the negative particle לא lo to a noun, to signify in a strong manner a total negation of the thing expressed by the noun. "How hast thou given help (כח ללא lelo choach ) to the no-strength?…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15Shall the axe - In this verse God reproves the pride and arrogance of the Assyrian monarch. He does it by reminding him that he was the mere instrument in his hand, to accomplish his purposes; and that it was just as absurd for him to boast of what he had done, as it would be for the axe to boast when it had been welded with effect. In the axe there is no wisdom, no skill, no power; and though it may lay the forest low, yet it is not by any skill or…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-19Verses 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…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15axe … saw … rod … staff: These tools are only as effective as the person using them. Assyria thought it was independent of God's influence. However, their victories were possible only with his permission and to fulfill his purposes (Isaiah 10:5).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. Shall the instrument boast against Him who uses it? Through free in a sense, and carrying out his own plans, the Assyrian was unconsciously carrying out God's purposes. shaketh it--moves it back and forward. staff ... lift ... itself ... no wood--rather, "as if the staff (man, the instrument of God's judgments on his fellow man) should set aside (Him who is) not wood" (not a mere instrument, as man). On "no wood" compare De 32:21, "that which is not…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 10:15
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 10
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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