And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
Parallel translations
- WEB He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.
- BSB He will clear the forest thickets with an axe, and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.
- NKJV He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.
- NASB He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe, And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.
- NLT He will cut down the forest trees with an ax. Lebanon will fall to the Mighty One.
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
God will hew down Assyria's forest like Lebanon felled by the Mighty One. The greatest worldly power topples before God.
Overview
The dense 'thickets of the forest' and proud 'Lebanon' — symbols of Assyria's grandeur — fall by the Lord's iron. The chapter that opened with a boasting ax ends with God himself swinging the axe of judgment. This sets up the bright contrast of chapter 11, where a humble 'shoot' from Jesse rises where the mighty forest fell.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Isa 37:24By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.
- Jer 46:22–23The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.
- Zech 11:1–2Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.
- Ps 103:20Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
- Nah 1:12Thus saith the LORD; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.
- 2 Pet 2:11Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.
- Rev 10:1And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
- Jer 48:2There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.
- Dan 4:13–14I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven;
- Jer 22:7And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
- Dan 4:23And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him;
- Isa 10:18And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth.
- 2 Th 1:7And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
- Isa 37:36Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
- Isa 31:8Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited.
- Rev 18:21And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
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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 10:34 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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