Isaiah 30:32

32 And every stroke of [the] staff of foundation that Yahweh lays will be on it with timbrels and lyres, and he will fight against it with battles of brandishing.

Isaiah 30:32 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 30:32

And [in] every place where the grounded staff shall pass,
&c.] The storm before mentioned, the wrath and righteous judgment of God, founded upon his unalterable purposes and decrees; and, wherever it came, would fall with great weight, sink deep, stick fast, and remain fixed and sure, like a rod or staff fastened in the earth: which the Lord shall lay upon him;
or, "cause to rest upon him" {o}; the Lord would lay his rod upon him, the Assyrian, and let it remain there, so that it should be a destroying rod or staff, as before; it should continue until it had done full execution, and utterly destroyed him. The Targum is,

``and there shall be every passage of their princes, and of their mighty ones, on whom the Lord shall cause to rest the vengeance of his power;''

and so the "grounded staff" may be understood of the Assyrian himself, that wherever he should be, this storm of vengeance should follow him, and rest upon him: [it] shall be with tabrets and harps;
the allusion is to the use of these in war; but, instead of these, no other music would be used at this time than what thunder, and rain, and hailstones made; unless this refers to the joy of God's people, upon the destruction of their enemies; so the Targum,

``with tabrets, and harps shall the house of Israel praise, because of the mighty war which shall be made for them among the people:''

see ( Revelation 15:2 ) : and in battles of shaking will he fight with it;
the Assyrian camp; or as the Keri, or marginal reading, "with them": with the Assyrians, with the men of the camp; the soldiers, as Kimchi explains it; that is, the Lord will fight with them in battles, by shaking his hand over them in a way of judgment, and thereby shaking them to pieces, and utterly destroying them; see ( Revelation 19:11 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 (xyny) "requiescere faciet", Pagninus, Montanus; "quiescere faciet", Cocceius.

Isaiah 30:32 In-Context

30 And Yahweh will cause the majesty of his voice to be heard, and he will cause the descent of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, [with] a cloudburst and a rainstorm and stones of hail.

31 Indeed, Assyria will be shattered by the voice of Yahweh; he strikes with the rod.

32 And every stroke of [the] staff of foundation that Yahweh lays will be on it with timbrels and lyres, and he will fight against it with battles of brandishing.

33 For Topheth has been prepared from yesterday; indeed, it is made ready for the king. He makes its pile of wood deep and wide; he makes fire and wood {abundant}. The breath of Yahweh burns in it like a stream of sulfur.

Footnotes

• [a]. Some translations emend this to "discipline"
• [b]. The reading tradition (Qere) has "them"