Isaiah 10:8

8 “Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.

Isaiah 10:8 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 10:8

For he saith, [are] not my princes altogether kings?
] Meaning either the kings which he had conquered, which were become his princes and subjects; or rather, such were the greatness and glory of his nobles, that they were equal in their riches and dominions to kings, and so were able to furnish him with men and money for such an expedition he had in his heart to undertake, even to conquer and subdue all the nations of the earth: and this he said either to his people, boasting of his grandeur; or in his heart, as Kimchi observes, to encourage himself; or rather more openly before others, in order to discourage and inject terror into the nations he meant to destroy, and particularly the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Isaiah 10:8 In-Context

6 I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.

7 But this is not his intention; this is not his plan. For it is in his heart to destroy and cut off many nations.

8 “Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.

9 “Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?

10 As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria,