Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think
so,
&c.] His purposes, intentions, and thoughts, were not as the
Lord's; he did not imagine that he was only the rod of his anger,
and the staff of his indignation, a minister of his wrath, and
the executioner of his vengeance; he thought he was his own lord
and master, and acted by his own power, and according to his own
will, and was not under the direction and restraints of another;
his intention was not to chastise and correct the people of the
Jews, but utterly to destroy them, and not them only, but many
other nations; as follows: but [it is] in his heart to
destroy and cut off nations, not a few;
not the nation of the Jews only, but many others, and so
establish an universal monarchy; and what flushed him with hope
and expectation of success were the magnificence of his princes,
and the conquests he had already made.
Isaiah 10:7
