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He will cut down the forest trees with an ax. Lebanon will fall to the Mighty One.
Isaiah 10:34 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.
  • KJV And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a 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.

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 your servants, have you defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon. I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees. I will enter into its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field.
  • Jer 46:22–23It’s sound will go like the serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as wood cutters.
  • Zech 11:1–2Open your doors, Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars.
  • Ps 103:20Praise Yahweh, you angels of his, who are mighty in strength, who fulfill his word, obeying the voice of his word.
  • Nah 1:12Yahweh says: “Though they be in full strength, and likewise many, even so they will be cut down, and he shall pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more.
  • 2 Pet 2:11whereas angels, though greater in might and power, don’t bring a railing judgment against them before the Lord.
  • Rev 10:1I saw a mighty angel coming down out of the sky, clothed with a cloud. A rainbow was on his head. His face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.
  • Jer 48:2The praise of Moab is no more; in Heshbon they have devised evil against her: ‘Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation.’ You also, Madmen, will be brought to silence. The sword will pursue you.
  • Dan 4:13–14I saw in the visions of my head on my bed, and behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from the sky.
  • Jer 22:7I will prepare destroyers against you, everyone with his weapons, and they will cut down your choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
  • Dan 4:23Whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from the sky, and saying, Cut down the tree, and destroy it; nevertheless leave the stump of its roots 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 the sky: and let his portion be with the animals of the field, until seven times pass over him;
  • Isa 10:18He will consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body. It will be as when a standard bearer faints.
  • 2 Th 1:7and to give relief to you who are afflicted with us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire,
  • 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 31:8“The Assyrian will fall by the sword, not of man; and the sword, not of mankind, shall devour him. He will flee from the sword, and his young men will become subject to forced labor.
  • Rev 18:21A mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down, and will be found no more at all.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 10:34YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.