Isaia 10:18

18 Ed anche consumerà la gloria del suo bosco, e il suo Carmel; consumerà ogni cosa, dall’anima infino alla carne; e sarà di lui come quando il banderaro è messo in rotta.

Isaia 10:18 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 10:18

And shall consume the glory of his forest
The Assyrian army is compared to a "forest", for the number of men in it; and for the mighty men in it, comparable to large and tall trees, such as oaks and cedars; and like a wood or forest a numerous army looks, when in rank and file, in proper order, and with banners, and having on their armour, their shields, spears, bows and arrows; and the "glory" of it intends either the princes and nobles that were in it, the principal officers, generals, and captains; or the riches of it, the plunder of the Egyptians and Ethiopians, as Kimchi observes, which were all destroyed at once: both soul and body,
or "from the soul even to the flesh" ^F15; which denotes the total consumption of them, nothing of them remaining; the Targum is,

``the glory of the multitude of his army, and their souls with their bodies, it shall consume;''

and so some understand this of the eternal destruction of soul and body in hell: the Rabbins are divided about the manner of the consumption of the Assyrian army; some say their bodies and souls were both burnt, which these words seem to favour; and others, that their souls were burnt, and not their bodies, their lives were taken away, and their bodies unhurt; which they think is favoured by ( Isaiah 10:16 ) where it is said, "under his glory", and not "his glory" ^F16: and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth;
who when he fails, the whole company or army is thrown into confusion, and flees; and so the Targum,

``and he shall be broken, and flee.''

Some render it, "as the dust of the worm that eats wood" ^F17; so Jarchi; signifying that they should be utterly destroyed, and become as small as the dust that falls from a worm eaten tree; which simile is used, a forest being made mention of before.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 (rvb dew vpnm) "ab anima usque ad carnem", V. L. Montanus, Piscator.
F16 T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 113. 2. & Sanhedrin, fol 94. 1, 2. See Kimchi in loc.
F17 (oon owomk) "at pulvis teredinis", Tigurine version.

Isaia 10:18 In-Context

16 Perciò, il Signore, il Signor degli eserciti, manderà la magrezza ne’ grassi di esso; e sotto la sua gloria accenderà un incendio, simile ad un incendio di fuoco.

17 E la luce d’Israele sarà come un fuoco, e il suo Santo come una fiamma; e arderà, e divorerà le vepri, ed i pruni di esso, in un giorno.

18 Ed anche consumerà la gloria del suo bosco, e il suo Carmel; consumerà ogni cosa, dall’anima infino alla carne; e sarà di lui come quando il banderaro è messo in rotta.

19 E il rimanente degli alberi del suo bosco sarà in piccol numero, ed un fanciullo potrà metterne il conto in iscritto.

20 Ed avverrà che, in quel giorno, il rimanente d’Israele, e quelli della casa di Giacobbe, che saranno scampati, non continueranno più ad appoggiarsi sopra colui che li percoteva; anzi si appoggeranno sopra il Signore, il Santo d’Israele, in verità.