Isaiah 10:33

33 Behold the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, shall lop the boughs with violence; and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be brought low;

Isaiah 10:33 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 10:33

Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough
with terror
Cut off the king of Assyria and his army, in a most terrible manner; "the glory" of it, as in ( Isaiah 10:18 ) the word signifies that which is the ornament, the beauty and glory, of the tree. The Septuagint render it, "the glorious ones"; and the Arabic version, "the nobles", the generals, and principal officers of the army; the Targum is,

``behold, the Lord of the world, the Lord of hosts, shall cast forth the slain in his camp, as grapes that are trod in a winepress.''

And the high ones of stature [shall] be hewn down;
the princes of Assyria, so boasted of as kings, ( Isaiah 10:8 ) comparable to tall trees, to oaks and cedars:

and the haughty shall be humbled;
who, like their monarch, boasted of their wisdom and strength, ( Isaiah 10:12-14 ) but now both he and they will be brought very low.

Isaiah 10:33 In-Context

31 Madmenah is fugitive; the inhabitants of Gebim take to flight.

32 Still a day of halting at Nob; he shaketh his hand [against] the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. ...

33 Behold the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, shall lop the boughs with violence; and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be brought low;

34 and he shall make clearings in the thickets of the forest with iron; and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.

Footnotes

• [a]. Great or high branches, making the beauty of a tree.
• [b]. Lit. 'terror.'