Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.
Parallel translations
- WEB Alas Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation!
- KJV O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
- NKJV “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation.
- NASB ¶Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,
- NLT “What sorrow awaits Assyria, the rod of my anger. I use it as a club to express my anger.
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 calls Assyria the rod of his anger, an instrument he uses to discipline his people.
Overview
Assyria is the unwitting tool in God's hand to punish sin, a "rod" and "staff" of his indignation. Yet, as the following verses show, Assyria's own pride will not go unpunished. The passage teaches that God sovereignly uses even wicked nations to accomplish his purposes while still holding them accountable.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Zeph 2:13And He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria; He will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as a desert.
- Isa 10:15Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!
- Jer 51:20–24“You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.
- Isa 14:25I will break Assyria in My land; I will trample him on My mountain. His yoke will be taken off My people, and his burden removed from their shoulders.”
- Isa 30:30And the LORD will cause His majestic voice to be heard and His mighty arm to be revealed, striking in angry wrath with a flame of consuming fire, and with cloudburst, storm, and hailstones.
- Isa 66:14When you see, you will rejoice, and you will flourish like grass; then the hand of the LORD will be revealed to His servants, but His wrath will be shown to His enemies.
- Isa 14:5–6The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers.
- Isa 13:5They are coming from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens—the LORD and the weapons of His wrath—to destroy the whole country.
- Isa 8:4For before the boy knows how to cry ‘Father’ or ‘Mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
- Ps 125:3For the scepter of the wicked will not rest upon the land allotted to the righteous, so that the righteous will not put forth their hands to injustice.
- Gen 10:11From that land he went forth into Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,
- Ps 17:14from such men, O LORD, by Your hand—from men of the world whose portion is in this life. May You fill the bellies of Your treasured ones and satisfy their sons, so they leave their abundance to their children.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 10:5 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.