Isaiah 10:5
New International Version
“Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath!

New Living Translation
“What sorrow awaits Assyria, the rod of my anger. I use it as a club to express my anger.

English Standard Version
Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury!

Berean Standard Bible
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.

King James Bible
O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.

New King James Version
“Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation.

New American Standard Bible
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,

NASB 1995
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,

NASB 1977
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,

Legacy Standard Bible
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,

Amplified Bible
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger [against Israel], The staff in whose hand is My indignation and fury [against Israel’s disobedience]!

Christian Standard Bible
Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger — the staff in their hands is my wrath.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger— the staff in their hands is My wrath.

American Standard Version
Ho Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, the staff in whose hand is mine indignation!

Contemporary English Version
The Lord says: I am furious! And I will use the king of Assyria as a club

English Revised Version
Ho Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, the staff in whose hand is mine indignation!

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"How horrible it will be for Assyria! It is the rod of my anger. My fury is the staff in the Assyrians' hands.

Good News Translation
The LORD said, "Assyria! I use Assyria like a club to punish those with whom I am angry.

International Standard Version
"How terrible it will be for Assyria, the rod of my anger! The club is in their hands!

Majority Standard Bible
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.

NET Bible
Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger, is as good as dead, a cudgel with which I angrily punish.

New Heart English Bible
Alas Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation.

Webster's Bible Translation
O Assyrian, the rod of my anger, and the staff in their hand is my indignation.

World English Bible
Alas Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation!
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
“Woe [to] Asshur, a rod of My anger, "" And My indignation [is] a staff in their hand.

Young's Literal Translation
Woe to Asshur, a rod of Mine anger, And a staff in their hand is Mine indignation.

Smith's Literal Translation
Wo to Assur the rod of mine anger, and that rod in their hand, my wrath.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Woe to the Assyrian, he is the rod and the staff of my anger, and my indignation is in their hands.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Woe to Assur! He is the rod and the staff of my fury, and my indignation is in their hands.

New American Bible
Ah! Assyria, the rod of my wrath, the staff I wield in anger.

New Revised Standard Version
Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger— the club in their hands is my fury!
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Ho, Assyrian! the rod of my anger, and the staff in their hand is my indignation.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Woe to the Assyrian! He is the rod of my anger, and the staff of my scourge is in their hands
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
O Asshur, the rod of Mine anger, In whose hand as a staff is Mine indignation!

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Woe to the Assyrians; the rod of my wrath, and anger are in their hands.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Judgment on Assyria
5Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath. 6I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.…

Cross References
Habakkuk 1:6-11
For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans—that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own. / They are dreaded and feared; from themselves they derive justice and sovereignty. / Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead, and their cavalry comes from afar. They fly like a vulture, swooping down to devour. ...

Jeremiah 25:9
behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.

2 Kings 18:9-12
In the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it. / And at the end of three years, the Assyrians captured it. So Samaria was captured in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. / The king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes. ...

2 Kings 19:25-28
Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble. / Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown. / But I know your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against Me. ...

Isaiah 37:26-29
Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble. / Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown. / But I know your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against Me. ...

Micah 5:5-6
And He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land and tramples our citadels. We will raise against it seven shepherds, even eight leaders of men. / And they will rule the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod with the blade drawn. So He will deliver us when Assyria invades our land and marches into our borders.

Nahum 1:11-14
From you, O Nineveh, comes forth a plotter of evil against the LORD, a counselor of wickedness. / This is what the LORD says: “Though they are allied and numerous, yet they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, O Judah, I will afflict you no longer. / For I will now break their yoke from your neck and tear away your shackles.” ...

Ezekiel 21:19-23
“Now you, son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same land. And make a signpost where the road branches off to each city. / Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem. / For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the liver. ...

Jeremiah 50:17-18
Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.” / Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria.

Zephaniah 2:13-15
And He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria; He will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as a desert. / Herds will lie down in her midst, creatures of every kind. Both the desert owl and screech owl will roost atop her pillars. Their calls will sound from the window, but desolation will lie on the threshold, for He will expose the beams of cedar. / This carefree city that dwells securely, that thinks to herself: “I am it, and there is none besides me,” what a ruin she has become, a resting place for beasts. Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.

2 Chronicles 32:1-23
After all these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, intending to conquer them for himself. / When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come to make war against Jerusalem, / he consulted with his leaders and mighty men about stopping up the waters of the springs outside the city, and they helped him carry it out. ...

Isaiah 14:24-27
The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand. / I 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.” / This is the plan devised for the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched out over all the nations. ...

Isaiah 30:31-33
For Assyria will be shattered at the voice of the LORD; He will strike them with His scepter. / And with every stroke of the rod of punishment that the LORD brings down on them, the tambourines and lyres will sound as He battles with weapons brandished. / For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.

Isaiah 31:8-9
“Then Assyria will fall, but not by the sword of man; a sword will devour them, but not one made by mortals. They will flee before the sword, and their young men will be put to forced labor. / Their rock will pass away for fear, and their princes will panic at the sight of the battle standard,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

Romans 9:17-18
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” / Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.


Treasury of Scripture

O Assyrian, the rod of my anger, and the staff in their hand is my indignation.

O Assyrian.

Genesis 10:11
Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,

the rod

Isaiah 10:15
Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.

Isaiah 8:4
For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

Isaiah 14:5,6
The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers…

and.

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Ah Alas Anger Asshur Assyria Assyrian Club Fury Hand Hands Ho Indignation Instrument Punishment Rod Staff Wo Woe Wrath
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Ah Alas Anger Asshur Assyria Assyrian Club Fury Hand Hands Ho Indignation Instrument Punishment Rod Staff Wo Woe Wrath
Isaiah 10
1. The woe of tyrants
5. Assyria, the rod of hypocrites, for its pride shall be broken
20. A remnant of Israel shall be saved
23. Judah is comforted with promise of deliverance from Assyria














Woe to Assyria
The word "woe" is a term of lamentation and impending judgment. In Hebrew, it is "הוֹי" (hoy), often used by prophets to announce divine judgment. Assyria, a dominant empire known for its military prowess and brutality, is addressed directly. Historically, Assyria was a significant power in the ancient Near East, known for its conquests and harsh treatment of subjugated peoples. This phrase sets the tone for a divine pronouncement against a nation that, while used by God, is not exempt from His justice.

the rod of My anger
The "rod" symbolizes authority and discipline. In Hebrew, "שֵׁבֶט" (shevet) can mean a staff or scepter, often associated with correction or punishment. Here, Assyria is depicted as an instrument of God's anger, used to chastise Israel for their disobedience. This reflects a common biblical theme where God uses nations to execute His judgment, demonstrating His sovereignty over all kingdoms.

the staff in their hands
The "staff" (מַטֶּה, matteh) is another symbol of power and control, similar to the rod. It signifies the means by which Assyria exercises its might. The phrase "in their hands" indicates possession and use, suggesting that while Assyria wields power, it is ultimately under God's control. This imagery reinforces the idea that earthly powers are subordinate to divine will.

is My wrath
The term "wrath" (זַעַם, za'am) conveys intense anger and indignation. In this context, it is God's righteous anger against sin and rebellion. Assyria's actions, though seemingly autonomous, are a manifestation of God's judgment. This underscores the biblical principle that God can use even the unrighteous to fulfill His purposes, yet they remain accountable for their actions.

(5) O Assyrian.--The words open, as has been said above, a perfectly distinct section. Assyria had been named in connection with the Syro-Ephraim alliance against Judah (Isaiah 7:17-20; Isaiah 8:7-8); but this is the first prophetic utterance of which it is the direct subject. Anticipating the phraseology of Isaiah 13:1, we might call it the "burden of Assyria." In the judgment of the best Assyrian scholars, some years had passed since the date of the alliance and invasion. Tiglath ? pileser had taken Damascus and reduced Samaria to submission. Pekah and Ahaz had met at Damascus to do homage to their common suzerain. In B.C. 727 Salmaneser succeeded to the throne of Assyria, and began the conquest of Samaria and the deportation of the Ten Tribes in B.C. 722 (2Kings 17:3-6). On his death, in B.C. 721, the throne was seized by Sargon, who had been his Tartan, or commander-in-chief (Isaiah 20:1). The achievements of this king are recorded at length in an inscription discovered by M. Botta at Khorsabad (Records of the Past, vii. 28. Lenormant's Manual, 1 p. 392). In it he says:--"I besieged, took, and occupied the city of Samaria, and carried into captivity 27,280 of its inhabitants. I changed the form of government of the country, and placed over it lieutenants of my own." In another inscription discovered at Kouyunyik, but unfortunately incomplete, Sargon speaks of himself as "the conqueror of the far-off land of Judah" (Layard, Inscriptions, 33:8). It was probably to this king, exulting in his triumphs and threatening an attack on Judah, and not (as was commonly thought prior to the discovery of the inscription) to his son Sennacherib, who succeeded him B.C. 704, that the prophet now addressed himself. The first words proclaim that the great king was but an instrument working out the Divine intent, the "rod," and the "staff," the "axe" and the "saw" (Isaiah 10:15). So in Isaiah 7:20, the earlier king of Assyria is as "the razor that is hired." So Nebuchadnezzar in Jeremiah 51:20 is the "battle-axe" or "hammer" of Jehovah. (Comp. Isaiah 37:26.) . . . Verses 5-19. - ASSYRIA, AFTER BEING GOD'S INSTRUMENT TO PUNISH ISRAEL, SHALL HERSELF BE PUNISHED IN HER TURN. The wicked are a sword in the hand of God (Psalm 17:13), wherewith he executes his judgments; but this fact is hid from them, and they imagine that they are successful through their own strength and might. So it was with Assyria (vers. 5-14), which its long career of victory had made proud and arrogant above measure. God now, by the mouth of Isaiah, makes known his intention of bringing down the pride of Assyria, and laying her glory in the dust, by a sudden and great destruction (vers. 15:19), after she has served his purposes. Verse 5. - O Assyrian; literally, Ho! Asshur. "Asshur" is the nation personified, and is here addressed as an individual. The transition from vers. 1-4 is abrupt, and may be taken to indicate an accidental juxtaposition of two entirely distinct prophecies. Or Assyria may be supposed to have been in the prophet's thought, though not in his words, when he spoke of "prisoners" and "slain" in the first clause of ver. 4. The rod of mine anger (comp. Jeremiah 51:20, where it is said of Babylon, "Thou art my battle-axe and weapons of war; for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy the kingdoms"). So Assyria was now the "rod" wherewith God chastised his enemies. The true "staff" in the hand of Assyria, wherewith she smote the peoples, was "God's indignation."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Woe
ה֥וֹי (hō·w)
Interjection
Strong's 1945: Ah! alas! ha!

to Assyria,
אַשּׁ֖וּר (’aš·šūr)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 804: Ashshur

the rod
שֵׁ֣בֶט (šê·ḇeṭ)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7626: Rod, staff, club, scepter, tribe

of My anger;
אַפִּ֑י (’ap·pî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 639: The nose, nostril, the face, a person, ire

the staff
וּמַטֶּה־ (ū·maṭ·ṭeh-)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4294: A staff, rod, shaft, branch, a tribe

in their hands
בְיָדָ֖ם (ḇə·yā·ḏām)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 3027: A hand

is My wrath.
זַעְמִֽי׃ (za‘·mî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 2195: Froth at the mouth, fury


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 10:5 Alas Assyrian the rod of my anger (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 10:4
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