The remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few, so that a child could write their number.
Parallel translations
- KJV And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.
- BSB The remaining trees of its forests will be so few that a child could count them.
- NKJV Then the rest of the trees of his forest Will be so few in number That a child may write them.
- NASB And the rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number That a child could write them down.
- NLT Of all that glorious forest, only a few trees will survive— so few that a child could count them!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
So few of Assyria's host will survive that a child could count them. The mighty empire is reduced to almost nothing.
Overview
The surviving 'trees' of Assyria's forest will be so few a child could write their number — a vivid measure of devastating judgment. What seemed innumerable becomes negligible under God's wrath. The verse magnifies the Lord's power to humble the proudest nations to a remnant.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Isa 37:36Yahweh’s angel went out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
- Isa 21:17and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, will be few; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has spoken it.”
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 10:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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