Isaiah 10:8

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For he says,“Aren’t all my commanders kings?

Hebrew Names Version
For he says, Aren't my princes all of them kings?

King James Version
For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?

English Standard Version
for he says: "Are not my commanders all kings?

New American Standard Bible
For it says, "Are not my officers all kings?

New Century Version
The king of Assyria says to himself, ‘All of my commanders are like kings.

Amplified Bible
For Assyria says, "Are not my princes all kings?

World English Bible
For he says, Aren't my princes all of them kings?

Geneva Bible (1587)
For he sayeth, Are not my princes altogether Kings?

Legacy Standard Bible
For it says, "Are not my princes all kings?

Berean Standard Bible
"Are not all my commanders kings?" he says.

Contemporary English Version
The king of Assyria says: My army commanders are kings!

Complete Jewish Bible
For [their king] says, ‘Aren't all my commanders kings?

Darby Translation
For he saith, Are not my princes all kings?

Easy-to-Read Version
Assyria says to himself, ‘All of my officers are like kings!

George Lamsa Translation
For he says, Are not my princes altogether kings?

Good News Translation
He boasts, "Every one of my commanders is a king!

Lexham English Bible
For he says, "Are not my commanders altogether kings?

Literal Translation
For he says, Are not my commanders all like kings?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
for he saieth: are not my princes all kynges?

American Standard Version
For he saith, Are not my princes all of them kings?

Bible in Basic English
For he says, Are not all my captains kings?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
For he saith: 'Are not my princes all of them kings?

King James Version (1611)
For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
For he saith, Are not my princes all kynges?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And if they should say to him, Thou alone art ruler;

English Revised Version
For he saith, Are not my princes all of them kings?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For he schal seie, Whether my princes ben not kyngis to gidere?

Update Bible Version
For he says, Are not my princes all of them kings?

Webster's Bible Translation
For he saith, [Are] not my princes altogether kings?

New English Translation
Indeed, he says: "Are not my officials all kings?

New King James Version
For he says, "Are not my princes altogether kings?

New Living Translation
He will say, ‘Each of my princes will soon be a king.

New Life Bible
For it says, "Are not my princes all kings?

New Revised Standard
For he says: "Are not my commanders all kings?

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For he saith: - Are not, my generals, all alike, kings?

Douay-Rheims Bible
For he shall say:

Revised Standard Version
for he says: "Are not my commanders all kings?

Young's Literal Translation
For he saith, `Are not my princes altogether kings?

New American Standard Bible (1995)
For it says, "Are not my princes all kings?

Contextual Overview

⁵"Doom to Assyria, weapon of my anger. My wrath is a cudgel in his hands! I send him against a godless nation, against the people I'm angry with. I command him to strip them clean, rob them blind, and then push their faces in the mud and leave them. But Assyria has another agenda; he has something else in mind. He's out to destroy utterly, to stamp out as many nations as he can. Assyria says, ‘Aren't my commanders all kings? Can't they do whatever they like? Didn't I destroy Calno as well as Carchemish? Hamath as well as Arpad? Level Samaria as I did Damascus? I've eliminated kingdoms full of gods far more impressive than anything in Jerusalem and Samaria. So what's to keep me from destroying Jerusalem in the same way I destroyed Samaria and all her god-idols?'" ¹²When the Master has finished dealing with Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he'll say, "Now it's Assyria's turn. I'll punish the bragging arrogance of the king of Assyria, his high and mighty posturing, the way he goes around saying, "‘I've done all this by myself. I know more than anyone. I've wiped out the boundaries of whole countries. I've walked in and taken anything I wanted. I charged in like a bull and toppled their kings from their thrones. I reached out my hand and took all that they treasured as easily as a boy taking a bird's eggs from a nest. Like a farmer gathering eggs from the henhouse, I gathered the world in my basket, And no one so much as fluttered a wing or squawked or even chirped.'" Does an ax take over from the one who swings it? Does a saw act more important than the sawyer? As if a shovel did its shoveling by using a ditch digger! As if a hammer used the carpenter to pound nails! Therefore the Master, God -of-the-Angel-Armies, will send a debilitating disease on his robust Assyrian fighters. Under the canopy of God's bright glory a fierce fire will break out. Israel's Light will burst into a conflagration. The Holy will explode into a firestorm, And in one day burn to cinders every last Assyrian thornbush. God will destroy the splendid trees and lush gardens. The Assyrian body and soul will waste away to nothing like a disease-ridden invalid. A child could count what's left of the trees on the fingers of his two hands. And on that Day also, what's left of Israel, the ragtag survivors of Jacob, will no longer be fascinated by abusive, battering Assyria. They'll lean on God , The Holy—yes, truly. The ragtag remnant—what's left of Jacob—will come back to the Strong God. Your people Israel were once like the sand on the seashore, but only a scattered few will return. Destruction is ordered, brimming over with righteousness. For the Master, God -of-the-Angel-Armies, will finish here what he started all over the globe. Therefore the Master, God -of-the-Angel-Armies, says: "My dear, dear people who live in Zion, don't be terrorized by the Assyrians when they beat you with clubs and threaten you with rods like the Egyptians once did. In just a short time my anger against you will be spent and I'll turn my destroying anger on them. I, God -of-the-Angel-Armies, will go after them with a cat-o'-nine-tails and finish them off decisively—as Gideon downed Midian at the rock Oreb, as Moses turned the tables on Egypt. On that day, Assyria will be pulled off your back, and the yoke of slavery lifted from your neck." Assyria's on the move: up from Rimmon, on to Aiath, through Migron, with a bivouac at Micmash. They've crossed the pass, set camp at Geba for the night. Ramah trembles with fright. Gibeah of Saul has run off. Cry for help, daughter of Gallim! Listen to her, Laishah! Do something, Anathoth! Madmenah takes to the hills. The people of Gebim flee in panic. The enemy's soon at Nob—nearly there! In sight of the city he shakes his fist At the mount of dear daughter Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. But now watch this: The Master, God -of-the-Angel-Armies, swings his ax and lops the branches, Chops down the giant trees, lays flat the towering forest-on-the-march. His ax will make toothpicks of that forest, that Lebanon-like army reduced to kindling. ¹⁴You Who Legislate Evil Doom to you who legislate evil, who make laws that make victims— Laws that make misery for the poor, that rob my destitute people of dignity, Exploiting defenseless widows, taking advantage of homeless children. What will you have to say on Judgment Day, when Doomsday arrives out of the blue? Who will you get to help you? What good will your money do you? A sorry sight you'll be then, huddled with the prisoners, or just some corpses stacked in the street. Even after all this, God is still angry, his fist still raised, ready to hit them again. "Doom to Assyria, weapon of my anger. My wrath is a cudgel in his hands! I send him against a godless nation, against the people I'm angry with. I command him to strip them clean, rob them blind, and then push their faces in the mud and leave them. But Assyria has another agenda; he has something else in mind. He's out to destroy utterly, to stamp out as many nations as he can. Assyria says, ‘Aren't my commanders all kings? Can't they do whatever they like? Didn't I destroy Calno as well as Carchemish? Hamath as well as Arpad? Level Samaria as I did Damascus? I've eliminated kingdoms full of gods far more impressive than anything in Jerusalem and Samaria. So what's to keep me from destroying Jerusalem in the same way I destroyed Samaria and all her god-idols?'" When the Master has finished dealing with Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he'll say, "Now it's Assyria's turn. I'll punish the bragging arrogance of the king of Assyria, his high and mighty posturing, the way he goes around saying, "‘I've done all this by myself. I know more than anyone. I've wiped out the boundaries of whole countries. I've walked in and taken anything I wanted. I charged in like a bull and toppled their kings from their thrones. I reached out my hand and took all that they treasured as easily as a boy taking a bird's eggs from a nest. Like a farmer gathering eggs from the henhouse, I gathered the world in my basket, And no one so much as fluttered a wing or squawked or even chirped.'" ¹⁵Does an ax take over from the one who swings it? Does a saw act more important than the sawyer? As if a shovel did its shoveling by using a ditch digger! As if a hammer used the carpenter to pound nails! Therefore the Master, God -of-the-Angel-Armies, will send a debilitating disease on his robust Assyrian fighters. Under the canopy of God's bright glory a fierce fire will break out. Israel's Light will burst into a conflagration. The Holy will explode into a firestorm, And in one day burn to cinders every last Assyrian thornbush. God will destroy the splendid trees and lush gardens. The Assyrian body and soul will waste away to nothing like a disease-ridden invalid. A child could count what's left of the trees on the fingers of his two hands.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Isaiah 36:8, 2 Kings 18:24, 2 Kings 19:10, Ezekiel 26:7, Daniel 2:37

Reciprocal: Exodus 15:9 - I will pursue Deuteronomy 8:17 - My power Deuteronomy 32:27 - they should 1 Kings 20:1 - Thirty and two 2 Kings 18:19 - Thus saith 2 Kings 18:28 - the king of Assyria 2 Kings 19:11 - General 1 Chronicles 19:19 - the servants 2 Chronicles 32:4 - kings 2 Chronicles 32:21 - the leaders 2 Chronicles 33:11 - the captains Ezra 7:12 - Artaxerxes Esther 5:11 - the glory Job 24:23 - whereon Psalms 48:4 - General Isaiah 8:7 - the king Isaiah 10:13 - For he saith Isaiah 23:8 - merchants Isaiah 25:5 - shalt bring Isaiah 36:4 - Thus saith Isaiah 36:9 - the least Isaiah 36:13 - Hear Jeremiah 9:23 - neither Ezekiel 28:5 - and thine Ezekiel 31:5 - his height Daniel 4:30 - that Hosea 8:10 - the king James 4:6 - God

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For he saith, [are] not my princes altogether kings?] Meaning either the kings which he had conquered, which were become his princes and subjects; or rather, such were the greatness and glory of his nobles, that they were equal in their riches and dominions to kings, and so were able to furnish him with men and money for such an expedition he had in his heart to undertake, even to conquer and subdue all the nations of the earth: and this he said either to his people, boasting of his grandeur; or in his heart, as Kimchi observes, to encourage himself; or rather more openly before others, in order to discourage and inject terror into the nations he meant to destroy, and particularly the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For he saith - This verse, and the subsequent verses to Isaiah 10:11, contain the vaunting of the king of Assyria, and the descriptions of his own confidence of success.

Are not my princes altogether kings? - This is a confident boast of his “own” might and power. His own dominion was so great that even his princes were endowed with the ordinary power and “regalia” of kings. The word “princes,” may here refer either to those of his own family and court - to the satraps and officers of power in his army, or around his throne: or more probably, it may refer to the subordinate governors whom he had set over the provinces which he had conquered. ‘Are they not clothed with royal power and majesty? Are they not of equal splendor with the other monarchs at the earth?’ How great, then, must have been his “own” rank and glory to be placed “over” such illustrious sovereigns! It will be recollected, that a common title which oriental monarchs give themselves, is that of King of kings; see Ezekiel 26:7; Daniel 2:37; Ezra 7:12. The oriental princes are still distinguished for their sounding titles, and particularly for their claiming dominion over all other princes, and the supremacy over all other earthly powers.