Isaiah 10:19

19 And the rest of the trees of his forest will be a small number, and a boy can write them [down].

Isaiah 10:19 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 10:19

And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few
Which were left unconsumed, that escaped this destruction, those of the Assyrian army that fled with Sennacherib their king; which, the Rabbins say F18, were no more than ten, as Jarchi and Kimchi observe; yea, some say there were but five left who escaped, and name them, Sennacherib and his two sons, Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuzaradan: that a child may write them;
count them, and take down their names; and it may be understood of a military muster, and the sense be, that the army should be reduced to so small a number by this stroke upon them, that there would be no need of an able muster master to take the account of them, a child would be equal to such a task. The Targum is,

``and the rest of his warriors shall fail, that the people shall be a small number, and shall be reckoned a weak kingdom.''

FOOTNOTES:

F18 T. Bab. ib. fol. 95. 2. Praefat. Echa Rabbati, fol. 41. 1.

Isaiah 10:19 In-Context

17 And the light of Israel will become like a fire, and his holy one like a flame, and it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day.
18 And he will destroy the glory of his forest and orchard {completely}, and it will be like the wasting away of one who is sick.
19 And the rest of the trees of his forest will be a small number, and a boy can write them [down].
20 And this shall happen: on that day, the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will not continue to lean on [the] one who struck it but will lean on Yahweh, the holy one of Israel, in truth.
21 A remnant will return-- the remnant of Jacob--to [the] mighty God.

Footnotes 1

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.