Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one
That is, a powerful king, with a mighty army, meaning Shalmaneser king of Assyria; whom the Lord had at his beck and command, and could use at his pleasure, as his instrument, to bring down the towering pride of Ephraim, and chastise him for his sensuality: [which] as a tempest of hail;
that beats down herbs and plants, and branches of trees, and men and beasts: [and] a destroying storm;
which carries all before it, blows down houses and trees, and makes terrible devastation wherever it comes: as a flood of mighty waters overflowing;
whose torrent is so strong there is no stopping it: so this mighty and powerful prince shall cast down to the earth with the hand;
the crown of pride, the people of Israel, and the king of it; he shall take the crown from his head, and cast it to the ground with a strong hand, as the Jews interpret it, with great violence; or very easily, with one hand, as it were, without any trouble at all. The Targum is,
``so shall people come against them, and remove them out of their own land into another land, because of the sins which were in their hands;''see ( Isaiah 8:7 ) .