Isaiah 10:4

4 Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.

Isaiah 10:4 in Other Translations

4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

4 Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.

4 You will stumble along as prisoners or lie among the dead. But even then the LORD ’s anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike.

4 A sorry sight you'll be then, huddled with the prisoners, or just some corpses stacked in the street. Even after all this, God is still angry, his fist still raised, ready to hit them again. Doom to Assyria!

4 They shall only bow down under the prisoners, and shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

4 Nothing's left but to crouch among prisoners and to fall with those who are killed. Even after all this, his anger will not disappear, and he is still ready to use his power.

4 [There will be nothing to do] except crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. In all this, His anger is not removed, and His hand is still raised [to strike].

4 All you can do is bow down in fear among the prisoners. All you can do is fall among those who have died in battle. Even then, the LORD is still angry. His hand is still raised against them.

Isaiah 10:4 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 10:4

Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and
they shall fall under the slain
That is, either, being forsaken by me, and destitute of my help, they shall bow down; or, "because they are without me", are not my people, and do not hearken to me, therefore they shall bow down, so David Kimchi; or, were it not for me, they would, as others; or that they might not bow down and fall; and so the words may be connected with the preceding verse ( Isaiah 10:3 ) : others render the word, translated "without me, besides"; and the sense is either, as Moses Kimchi, besides their bowing in their own land, when subdued by the Gentiles, a greater affliction shall befall them, captivity; when they should be either carried captive or slain; or besides him that shall bow down under the prisoners, they shall fall under the slain; besides those that are taken, others shall be killed; or none shall escape, but, or "except", him that bows, and hides himself under the prisoners, or in the place of the slain, that he might not be thought to be alive: or the sense is, the desolation shall be so general, that none shall escape, either they shall be taken prisoners, or they shall be slain; agreeably to which Noldius ^F9 renders the words, "without me", everyone "shall bow down among the prisoners, or shall fall among the slain"; which gives the best sense of them; that, being left of God for their sins, they would either be bound and carried captive, or else slain with the sword, and one or the other would be the lot of everyone of them: for all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is
stretched out still;
the final and utter destruction of the nation of the Jews being then not yet come, when carried captive to Babylon, there remained a greater calamity for them, to come by the hands of the Romans. These first four verses ( Isaiah 10:1-4 ) seem more properly to belong to the preceding chapter ( Isaiah 9:1-21 ) , and this should begin with the next verse ( Isaiah 10:5 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 Ebr. Concord. Part. p. 201, 771.

Isaiah 10:4 In-Context

2 to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.

3 What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches?

4 Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.

5 “Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath!

6 I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets.

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 24:22; Zechariah 9:11
• 2. Isaiah 22:2; Isaiah 34:3; Isaiah 66:16; Jeremiah 39:6; Nahum 3:3
• 3. S Isaiah 5:25; Isaiah 12:1; Isaiah 63:10; Isaiah 64:5; Jeremiah 4:8; Jeremiah 30:24; Lamentations 1:12