Isaiah 10:17

17 The light of Isra'el will become a fire and his Holy One a flame, burning and devouring his thorns and briars in a single day.

Isaiah 10:17 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 10:17

And the light of Israel shall be for a fire
That is, the Lord, who is the light of his people; who enlightens them by his word and Spirit, and by his grace effectually calls them out of darkness into marvellous light, to the light of grace here, and to the light of glory hereafter; and who comforts and refreshes them with his gracious presence, and with the light of his countenance when in affliction and distress, which is sometimes signified by darkness; and the same Lord, who is as light to his people, and gives light and comfort to them, is as a consuming fire to others: and his Holy One for a flame;
that is, the Holy One of Israel, the God of Israel, who is holy in himself, and the sanctifier of others; the Syriac version reads, "his Holy Ones": so Jarchi observes it as the sense of some, that the righteous of that generation are meant; the Targum is,

``and there shall be the Lord, the light of Israel, and his Holy One; and his word strong as fire, and his word as a flame;''

see ( Jeremiah 23:29 ) so Jarchi interprets it of the law Hezekiah studied: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;
the Targum interprets it, his rulers and governors; and so Jarchi, his princes and mighty men; the chief in the Assyrian army, called briers and thorns, because mischievous and hurtful, and caused grief; but rather the multitude of the common soldiers is designed, who were all destroyed in one night, ( 2 Kings 19:35 ) by an angel; who, according to Aben Ezra, is the light and Holy One of Israel here spoken of.

Isaiah 10:17 In-Context

15 Should the axe glorify itself over the one who chops with it? Should the saw magnify itself over the one who moves it? It's as if a stick could wave the hand that raises it up, or as if a wooden staff could lift [a person, who is] not made of wood.

16 Therefore the Lord, ADONAI-Tzva'ot, will send leanness to his well-fed ones; and in place of his glory, a fire will be kindled that will burn and burn.

17 The light of Isra'el will become a fire and his Holy One a flame, burning and devouring his thorns and briars in a single day.

18 The glory of his forest and of his fertile land he will consume body and soul, like an invalid wasting away.

19 So few forest trees will remain that a child could list them.