Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Isaiah 30:32

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Isaiah 30:32. The grounded staff - "The rod of his correction"] For מוסדה musadah, the grounded staff, of which no one yet has been able to make any tolerable sense, Le Clerc conjectured מוסרה musarah, of correction; (see Proverbs 22:15;) and so it is in two MSS., (one of them ancient,) and seems to be so in the Bodleian MS. The Syriac has דשוע בדה deshuebedah, virgo domans, vet subjectionis, - "the taming rod, or rod of subjection."

With tabrets and harps — With every demonstration of joy and thanksgiving for the destruction of the enemy in so wonderful a manner: with hymns of praise, accompanied with musical instruments. See Isaiah 30:29.

With it - "Against them."] For בה bah, against her, fifty-two MSS. and five editions read בם bam, against them.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

The folly of relying on Egypt (30:1-33)

All Isaiah’s warnings against an alliance with Egypt are in vain. As he learns that a group of Judean representatives is on its way to Egypt, he points out again how disastrous this alliance will prove to be. Judah’s reliance on Egypt is against God’s will and in the end will bring only disgrace upon Judah (30:1-5).
Isaiah pictures the dangerous journey, as a caravan of donkeys and camels carry Judah’s payment through the dry southern region of Judah towards Egypt. He knows that the journey is a waste of time, money and effort (6). Judah thinks of Egypt as a great dragon (Rahab) that will help it overthrow enemy Assyria, but Isaiah knows that Egypt will be powerless to help - like a dragon that sits still and does nothing (7).
The prophet writes this discouraging message down as a permanent record that the people have been warned (8). But the sinful people do not want to hear messages that come from God. They want to hear only those things that please them (9-11). They trust for their national defence in a treaty with Egypt, which, to them, is like a high wall that protects them from enemy Assyria. But this wall will collapse on top of them (12-14).
Instead of trusting quietly in God the people trust in military strength. This is only inviting defeat, because the military strength of Assyria is greater than that of Egypt (15-17). God wants to help his people, but first he wants them to learn to trust in him (18).
Despite Judah’s rebellion, God in his mercy does not cast them off for ever (19). He is the great teacher who punishes his people when they turn from him, so that they might see their wrongdoing, give up their sinful ways and return to walk in the ways of God (20-22). Then God will pour out upon them the blessings of nature to an extent they have never before experienced (23-26). Upon their enemies, God will pour out his holy wrath (27-28). The people of God will celebrate their victory with much gladness and singing (29), but the Assyrians will be destroyed without mercy, as if burnt in a huge bonfire (30-33).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ASSYRIANS

“Behold the name of Jehovah cometh from far, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke; his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is a devouring fire; and his breath is an overflowing stream, that reacheth even unto the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction: and a bridle that causeth to err shall be in the jaws of the peoples. Ye shall have a song as in a night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness in the heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel. And Jehovah shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and will show the lightning down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with a blast, and tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of Jehovah shall the Assyrian be dismayed; with his rod will he smite him. and every stroke of the appointed staff, which Jehovah shall lay upon him, shall be with the sound of tabrets and harps; and in battles with the brandishing of his arm, will he fight with them. For a Tophet is prepared of old; yea, for the king it is made ready; he hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.”

There is strange intermingling here of songs and tabrets and harps, along with terrible destruction and death. “The simple idea is, that the sudden and complete destruction of Sennacherib’s army would be the occasion of the highest joy in Israel.”Ibid., p. 461.

Despite the application of these verses to the forthcoming destruction of Sennacherib’s host, “They further apply to the end time. One day, the godless powers of the earth will find themselves caught like Judah (Isaiah 8:8) in a rising tide, and drawn by God’s bridle (like Assyria in Isaiah 37:29) to their destruction.”The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 607. However, the grave of the oppressors on that Day of Judgment will not be the Red Sea, but Tophet.

This mention of “bridle” appears to be a reference to the habit of the Assyrians of linking long lines of prisoners together with devices fastened in the ears, the jaws, or the lips of their victims as they were cruelly marched away. Here it is used to describe the unwillingness of evil men to face God in judgment, (Revelation 6:12 ff), and their inability to avoid it.

Tophet is the name of the same place that is called in the New Testament “Gehenna”, or hell, the New Testament name having been derived from “Sons of Hinnon,” as suggested in Jeremiah 7:31. This abominable valley (of Topher) was the shrine of a pagan god Molech (Melech), to whom a giant statue with brazen arms and a furnace in his belly had been erected, and who was worshipped by casting little babies alive into his arms heated red hot, the cries of which were drowned out with noisy drums and instruments of music. Even a king of Israel (Ahaz) sacrificed his son unto Molech (2 Kings 16:3). They called this monstrous ceremony “passing through the fire to Molech!” No wonder such a place gave a name that in the New Testament would mean “hell.”

The destruction prophesied here for Assyria will be accomplished by God’s rod (Isaiah 30:31); but Assyria was God’s “rod” in Isaiah 10:5; and now it will be another “rod of God” that Jehovah will use to destroy Assyria. “Babylon was the `rod’ that destroyed Assyria.”Homer Hailey, p. 261.

This paragraph gives a magnificent picture indeed of Jehovah as the judge and the ultimate destroyer of wicked men. Nothing is more emphatically taught in both the Old Testament and the New Testament than the ultimate promise of Almighty God to “judge the world in righteousness, by that Man whom he has appointed, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead” (Acts 17:31 f).

Despite the fact of the unwillingness of many millions of people today to believe in any such thing as the eternal judgment, it stands, nevertheless, in the New Testament, where it is designated as one of the “Six Fundamentals” of the Christian religion (Hebrews 6:2).

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

And in every place - Margin, ‘Every passing of the rod founded.’ Lowth renders it, ‘Whenever shall pass the rod of correction.’ The whole design of the passage is evidently to foretell the sudden destruction of the army of the Assyrians, and to show that this would be accomplished by the agency of God. The idea seems to be, that in all those places where the rod of the Assyrian would pass, that is, where he would cause devastation and desolation, there would be the sound of rejoicing with instruments of music when he should be overthrown.

The grounded staff - The word ‘staff’ here, or “rod,” seems to refer to that by which the Assyrian smote the nations Isaiah 30:31; or rather perhaps the Assyrian king himself as a rod of correction in the hand of Yahweh (see Isaiah 10:5). The word rendered ‘grounded’ (מוסדה mûsâdâh) has given great perplexity to commentators. Lowth supposes it should be מוסרח (“correction”), according to a conjecture of Le Clerc. Two manuscripts also read it in the same way. But the authority from the MSS. is not sufficient to justify a change in the present Hebrew text. This word, which is not very intelligibly rendered ‘grounded,’ is derived from יסד yâsad, to “found, to lay the foundation of a building” Ezra 3:12; Isaiah 54:11; then to establish, to appoint, to ordain Psalms 104:8; Habakkuk 1:12. The idea here is, therefore, that the rod referred to had been “appointed, constituted, ordained” by God; that is, that the Assyrian had been designated by him to accomplish important purposes as a rod, or as a means of punishing the nations.

Shall pass - In his march of desolation and conquest.

Which the Lord shall lay upon him - Or rather, as it should be translated, ‘upon which Yahweh should lay,’ that is, the rod, meaning that in all those places where Yahweh should lay this appointed scourge there would be yet rejoicing.

It shall be with tabrets and harps - Those places where he had passed, and which he had scourged, would be filled with joy and rejoicing at his complete overthrow, and at their entire deliverance from the scourge. For a description of the tabret and harp, see the notes at Isaiah 5:12.

And in battles of shaking - In the Hebrew there is an allusion here to what is said in Isaiah 30:28, that he would ‘sift,’ that is, agitate or toss the nations as in a winnowing shovel.

Will he fight with it - Margin, ‘Against them.’ Yahweh would fight against the ‘rod,’ to wit, the Assyrian, and destroy him (see Isaiah 37:36).

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

32.And there shall be in every passage. He means that the Assyrians will in vain try every method of escaping from the hand of God; for wherever they go, whether they attempt to go forward or to turn back, the hand of God shall pursue them. As to the phrase, fastened staff, ⁽³¹³⁾ I readily adopt the opinion of those who think that the metaphor is taken from those on whom have been inflicted strokes so heavy, that the marks of the instrument of punishment remain, as if a rod or staff were “fastened” in the wound. It will perhaps be thought preferable to interpret it to mean, that the wound is “fastened” ⁽³¹⁴⁾ on the Assyrian, as a foundation is fixed in the earth; for what is not “fastened” may be moved out of its place and carried away. But he shews that that wound is so deeply fixed that it cannot be shaken off or removed. In like manner, the weight of God’s wrath lies on the reprobate, and holds them weighed down to the end. To shew that there is no hope of being able to derive advantage from a change of place, he says everywhere, thus declaring that there shall be no retreat. The clause ought to be thus arranged, “wherever the staff shall pass, there it will stick firmly.”

With tabrets and harps. He means that the issue of the battle will not be doubtful, as when the combatants meet on equal terms; for he says that the victory will be certain; because, as soon as God determines to go forth to fight, he already holds the victory in his hand. “Tabrets and harps,” hands spread out and lifted up, are expressive of the joy of conquerors, when they shout aloud and chant the song of victory.

Shall fight against her. The feminine pronoun בה (bāhh) is viewed by some commentators as referring to the army; but the Prophet undoubtedly intended to express something higher, namely, the head of the army, that is, Babylon, as contrasted with Jerusalem, which also he formerly denoted by a similar pronoun.

From these statements we ought to infer, that the wicked shall at length be destroyed, though they appear to have many means of escape; for wherever they turn, whatever road they take, the “staff” of the Lord shall pursue them, and shall ever remain “fastened” to their back; they shall never escape his hand or get quit of their wounds. We, too, are chastened by the hand of God, but the wounds do not always last; our pains are soothed and abated, and “our grief is turned into joy.” (John 16:20.) Besides, God carries on war against the reprobate in such a manner that they cannot resist him, or gain anything by their attempts. He joins battle with them, indeed, but it is as a conqueror; he even allows them to obtain some advantages, but represses their insolence whenever he thinks proper. If, therefore, we fight under his banner, let us entertain no doubt of obtaining the victory; for, when we have him as our leader, we shall be safe from all danger, and shall undoubtedly come off conquerors.

(313) Bogus footnote

(314) Bogus footnote

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 30

Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not from me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to their sin ( Isaiah 30:1 ):

Now these people, the judgment was coming. They knew that Assyria was marching. But rather than turning to God for counsel and for help, they were sending ambassadors down to Egypt to make a mutual defense pact with Egypt so that they could hire the Egyptians to come and to help defend them against the Assyrians. But the prophet said it's stupid to call on Egypt for help, because Assyria's going to wipe out Egypt. But Assyria's not going to wipe out you. Now your strength is just to stand still and do nothing but trust in the Lord. And woe unto those that are seeking counsel but not from God. "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly" ( Psalms 1:1 ).

People today are seeking counsel, but not from God. They are many of them going to ungodly psychiatrists who are filled with humanism and Freudism. And they are giving you the garbage and charging you a hundred dollars an hour for garbage. That's ridiculous! Woe unto those that take counsel but not from God. That seek to find a covering but not from the Spirit.

That go down to Egypt, and have not asked from God; [they seek] to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and they trust in the shadow of Egypt! ( Isaiah 30:2 )

But there's no real substance to Egypt. It's a shadow. It's going to decline. It's going to fall.

Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and your trust in the shadow of Egypt will only bring you confusion. For the princes were there at Zoan, and the ambassadors they came to Hanes [the major cities of Egypt in that day]. They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be able to help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. The burden of the beasts of the south: To the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them. For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Your strength is just to sit still ( Isaiah 30:3-7 ).

Now this is what the prophet Isaiah kept telling Hezekiah, "Don't worry about it. God's going to defend you. You don't have to worry about the Assyrians and their invasion, because God is going to take care of you. You're not going to have to fight the battle. God is going to fight for you. Now just trust in the Lord." And here he is saying, "Your strength is just to sit still and trust in God."

Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever ( Isaiah 30:8 ):

Write it down for them so that when God does, you can take the book out and say, "Look, this is what I told you. See? There it is."

That this is a rebellious people, they are lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Don't prophesy to us right things, but speak smooth things, prophesy deceitfully ( Isaiah 30:9-10 ):

Only tell me good things about me. Don't tell me the truth. I don't want to hear that. They say to the prophets,

Get out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and you're resting on it: Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare ( Isaiah 30:11-14 ):

God's going to crack all of these pots.

This takes you out to the book of Revelation where it talks about the reign of Jesus Christ, who as with an iron, will pop the clay vessels and shatter them to pieces. Those that have exalted themselves, He'll pop them.

so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit ( Isaiah 30:14 ).

There won't be enough left to even take water out.

For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall you be saved ( Isaiah 30:15 );

Don't go to Egypt. Just return and rest in the Lord and there you'll be safe.

in quietness and confidence shall be your strength: but you won't listen [you will not hear]. For you said, No; we will flee upon horses ( Isaiah 30:15-16 );

"We'll get away from the Assyrians. We'll get on horses and we'll flee." But he said, "Those who are chasing you will have faster horses than you do."

And a thousand will flee from one man; at the rebuke of five you will flee: till you are left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain. And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him ( Isaiah 30:17-18 ).

Now some of the more wealthy people were escaping to Egypt when they saw this Assyrian invasion coming. Get on their horses, head to Egypt, escape from. But Egypt fell to Assyria. However, Jerusalem stood. Those that stayed there in quietness and confidence trusting the Lord. The Lord wiped out the Assyrian army. The children of Israel didn't have to fight them. God delivered them. And we'll get to that as we move along here in Isaiah. God's judgment upon the Assyrians as He wiped out 185,000 in one night of the first line fighting troops. But here the prophet is telling them all along, "Quiet and confidence shall be your strength. Don't run. They'll chase you. They'll be faster than you are. They'll overtake you. But those that will wait upon God will be delivered."

For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left ( Isaiah 30:19-21 ).

How glorious to be led of the Spirit and having God say, "This is the way, walk in it." What is the way? The way of waiting upon God and trusting in Him.

You shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence. Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan. And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound ( Isaiah 30:22-26 ).

Sounds like the sun will go into a supernova.

Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire ( Isaiah 30:27 ):

Again, we're getting into the day of His indignation, getting into the day of the great wrath, and this moon shall be as light as the sun and the sunlight seven times increased. It reminds us of the book of Revelation, chapter 16, as the Lord is pouring out the vials of His wrath upon the earth. In the fourth vial He gives power unto the sun to scorch men who dwell upon the earth. And men will be scorched by the sun during that time. And so the sun increased in its brightness to a seven-times intensity so that the moon reflecting the sun at night under a full moon, it would be as bright on the earth as it is usually during the daytime. And it does sound like the sun will go into a supernova state. And there are a lot of interesting implications to the sun going into a supernova state of the effect that it would have upon the earth and so forth. Of course, it would be devastating to the earth if the sun went into a supernova state.

The astronomers believe that when stars are about to die that they go into the supernova state. And supernova is a phenomena that we observe in the universe. We've observed many stars as they are about to die. They go into this tremendous intensity of light and they call them the supernovas because it gets so bright and they begin to emit so much radiation and all. And the astronomers have watched these stars in supernovas. If the sun should go into supernova, it would just about do in the earth. But it sure sounds like it here. The sun being seven times brighter, the moon being as bright as the sun and the sun becoming seven times brighter. Sounds like a supernova. But it speaks about "the name of the Lord comes from far, burning in his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation."

In Revelation it says for the cup at the time of the sun giving power. The sun to scorch men who dwell upon the earth, it says, "Woe to the inhabitants of the earth for the cup of His indignation overflow and is pouring out the cup of the wrath upon the earth" ( Revelation 14:10 ). And so here His indignation, "the tongue as a devouring fire."

And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err. Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the Mighty One of Israel. And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm, and the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, the tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod ( Isaiah 30:28-31 ).

Now we're coming back to the local situation. God's going to wipe out the Assyrian. However, the Assyrian here could also be a type of the antichrist who will be destroyed by the sword that goes forth out of the mouth of Christ when He returns.

And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it. For Tophet [interesting scripture, Tophet] is ordained of old ( Isaiah 30:32-33 );

Tophet is hell. It is actually the Gehenna of the New Testament. And Hades is hell; Gehenna is another place. "Tophet is ordained of old." Jesus said that Tophet was prepared by God for the devil and his angels. It has been ordained of old, a place that God has ordained. The word means the place of a burning fire. In the New Testament it is described as the place that burns with fire, the lake of fire. And Tophet is ordained of old.

yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it ( Isaiah 30:33 ).

David said, "Where can I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend into heaven, Thou art there. Yea, if I descend into hell, lo, Thou art there." Here very graphically it describes this place known as Tophet; in the Greek, Gehenna. The final place of the wicked dead. Hell is not a place of eternal punishment. Hades. Death and hell are going to give up their dead which are in them. Revelation, chapter 20, when he sees the great white throne judgment of God, "and death and hell delivereth up their dead. And those whose names are not found written in the book of life are cast into the lake that burns with fire" ( Revelation 20:13 , Revelation 20:15 ). Gehenna, Tophet, this is the second death.

So hell will come to an end. When it gives up its dead to stand before God at the judgment bar. And then they will be cast into Gehenna. Now of Gehenna, the scripture declares, "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth from the ages through the ages" ( Revelation 14:11 ). "Aionios posto aionios" in the Greek, the strongest term there is for expressing eternity--from the ages through the ages.

Jesus said of Gehenna, "Where the worm dies not, neither is the fire quenched" ( Mark 9:44 ). Now there are those who say, "Well, hell is not a place of eternal punishment." We get, "Oh, but the Bible says." "No, the Bible does say that," and they can show you scriptures where hell is not a place of eternal punishment. Death and hell would give up the dead that are in them, Hades. But when you talk about Gehenna, you're talking about something else; Tophet, it's been ordained of old. And according to the scriptures, the smoke of the torment will ascend forever and ever. Jesus said, "Where the worm dies not, neither is the fire quenched."

You can read into that whatever you want. You can read out of that whatever you want. I personally just leave it alone. I have no intention of being there. And whether they are consumed and their smoke ascends forever and ever. But Jesus said, "Where the worm dies not." So to me the strong indications are that it will be an eternal separation from God and whether or not conscious, that's something that's in God's hands. I don't worry about that. I don't mess with that. It's out of my territory. That's in God's hands. And God will do what is right and what is fair.

But my great concern is with that new model that He's preparing for me. The new building of God that is eternal in the heavens. That's where I can get excited and really get into the glorious future that I have with Him. My eternal future with the Lord, that's the thing that can really get me excited.

Go ahead and read your next five chapters. You'll have a little while to read them. Some very interesting things. We get to the destruction of the Assyrian army that he has been predicting and chapter 33. And then chapter 35, the glorious light at the end of the tunnel after the earth goes through the Great Tribulation of chapter 34, coming into chapter 35, glorious Kingdom Age. I can hardly wait.

Shall we stand.

May the Lord be with you and bless you and keep you in His love and grace. May the Lord watch over you and may you be filled with His Spirit and walk in the strength and the power of the Spirit of God as He anoints you day by day. May you be enabled by Him, and may you enter into that fullness that He has for you. Walking with the Lord. Loving the Lord. Listening to the Lord. Alert unto the Lord in these last days when the world around you is walking in its drunken stupor. May your mind and heart be clear, sensitive to God and to the things of the Spirit. In Jesus' name. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Immanent restoration in spite of unfaithfulness 30:27-33

From the distant future (millennial blessings), Isaiah turned to the immediate future and promised deliverance from the Assyrian threat. In spite of the Judahites’ sinful reliance on Egypt, God would spare them from defeat at the hands of the Assyrians.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Assyria would tremble at God’s judgment of her. The Lord’s blows would be matched by His people’s rejoicing at the defeat of their enemy (cf. Revelation 19:1-10).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And [in] every place where the grounded staff shall pass,.... The storm before mentioned, the wrath and righteous judgment of God, founded upon his unalterable purposes and decrees; and, wherever it came, would fall with great weight, sink deep, stick fast, and remain fixed and sure, like a rod or staff fastened in the earth:

which the Lord shall lay upon him; or, "cause to rest upon him" o; the Lord would lay his rod upon him, the Assyrian, and let it remain there, so that it should be a destroying rod or staff, as before; it should continue until it had done full execution, and utterly destroyed him. The Targum is,

"and there shall be every passage of their princes, and of their mighty ones, on whom the Lord shall cause to rest the vengeance of his power;''

and so the "grounded staff" may be understood of the Assyrian himself, that wherever he should be, this storm of vengeance should follow him, and rest upon him:

[it] shall be with tabrets and harps; the allusion is to the use of these in war; but, instead of these, no other music would be used at this time than what thunder, and rain, and hailstones made; unless this refers to the joy of God's people, upon the destruction of their enemies; so the Targum,

"with tabrets, and harps shall the house of Israel praise, because of the mighty war which shall be made for them among the people:''

see Revelation 15:2:

and in battles of shaking will he fight with it; the Assyrian camp; or as the Keri, or marginal reading, "with them": with the Assyrians, with the men of the camp; the soldiers, as Kimchi explains it; that is, the Lord will fight with them in battles, by shaking his hand over them in a way of judgment, and thereby shaking them to pieces, and utterly destroying them; see Revelation 19:11.

o יניח "requiescere faciet", Pagninus, Montanus; "quiescere faciet", Cocceius.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:   28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.   29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.   30 And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.   31 For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.   32 And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.   33 For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.

      This terrible prediction of the ruin of the Assyrian army, though it is a threatening to them, is part of the promise to the Israel of God, that God would not only punish the Assyrians for the mischief they had done to the Israel of God, but would disable and deter them from doing the like again; and this prediction, which would now shortly be accomplished, would ratify and confirm the foregoing promises, which should be accomplished in the latter days. Here is,

      I. God Almighty angry, and coming forth in anger against the Assyrians. He is here introduced in all the power and all the terror of his wrath, Isaiah 30:27; Isaiah 30:27. The name of Jehovah, which the Assyrians disdain and set at a distance from them, as if they were out of its reach and it could do them no harm, behold, it comes from far. A messenger in the name of the Lord comes from as far off as heaven itself. He is a messenger of wrath, burning with his anger. God's lips are full of indignation at the blasphemy of Rabshakeh, who compared the God of Israel with the gods of the heathen; his tongue is as a devouring fire, for he can speak his proud enemies to ruin; his very breath comes with as much force as an overflowing stream, and with it he shall slay the wicked, Isaiah 11:4; Isaiah 11:4. He does not stifle or smother his resentments, as men do theirs when they are either causeless or impotent; but he shall cause his glorious voice to be heard when he proclaims war with an enemy that sets him at defiance, Isaiah 30:30; Isaiah 30:30. He shall display the indignation of his anger, anger in the highest degree; it shall be as the flame of a devouring fire, which carries and consumes all before it, with lightning or dissipation, and with tempest and hailstones, all which are the formidable phenomena of nature, and therefore expressive of the terror of the Almighty God of nature.

      II. The execution done by this anger of the Lord. Men are often angry when they can only threaten and talk big; but when God causes his glorious voice to be heard that shall not be all: he will show the lighting down of his arm too, Isaiah 30:30; Isaiah 30:30. The operations of his providence shall accomplish the menaces of his word. Those that would not see the lifting up of his arm (Isaiah 26:11; Isaiah 26:11) shall feel the lighting down of it, and find, to their cost, that the burden thereof is heavy (Isaiah 30:27; Isaiah 30:27), so heavy that they cannot bear it, nor bear up against it, but must unavoidably sink and be crushed under it. Who knows the power of his anger or imagines what an offended God can do? Five things are here prepared for the execution:-- 1. Here is an overflowing stream, that shall reach to the midst of the neck, shall quite overwhelm the whole body of the army, and Sennacherib only, the head of it, shall keep above water and escape this stroke, while yet he is reserved for another in the house of Nisroch his god. The Assyrian army had been to Judah as an overflowing stream, reaching even to the neck (Isaiah 8:7; Isaiah 8:8), and now the breath of God's wrath will be so to it. 2. Here is a sieve of vanity, with which God would sift those nations of which the Assyrian army was composed, Isaiah 30:28; Isaiah 30:28. The great God can sift nations, for they are all before him as the small dust of the balance; he will sift them, not to gather out of them any that should be preserved, but so as to shake them one against another, put them into great consternation, and shake them all away at last; for it is a sieve of vanity (which retains nothing) that they are shaken with, and they are found all chaff. 3. Here is a bridle, which God has in their jaws, to curb and restrain them from doing the mischief they would do, and to force and constrain them to serve his purposes against their own will, Isaiah 10:7; Isaiah 10:7. God particularly says of Sennacherib (Isaiah 37:29; Isaiah 37:29) that he will put a hook in his nose and a bridle in his lips. It is a bridle causing them to err, forcing them to such methods as will certainly be destructive to themselves and their interest and in which they will be infatuated. God with a word guides his people into the right way (Isaiah 30:21; Isaiah 30:21), but with a bridle he turns his enemies headlong upon their own ruin. 4. Here is a rod and a staff, even the voice of the Lord, his word giving orders concerning it, with which the Assyrian shall be beaten down,Isaiah 30:31; Isaiah 30:31. The Assyrian had been himself a rod in God's hand for the chastising of his people, and had smitten them, Isaiah 10:5; Isaiah 10:5. That was a transient rod; but against the Assyrian shall go forth a grounded staff, that shall give a steady blow, shall stick close to him and strike home, so as to leave an impression upon him. It is a staff with a foundation, founded upon the enemies' deserts and God's determinate counsel. It is a consumption determined (Isaiah 10:23; Isaiah 10:23), and therefore there is no escaping it, no getting out of the reach of it; it shall pass in every place where an Assyrian is found, and the Lord shall lay it upon him, and cause it to rest, Isaiah 30:32; Isaiah 30:32. Such is the woeful case of those that persist in enmity to God: the wrath of God abides on them. 5. Here is Tophet ordained and prepared for them, Isaiah 30:33; Isaiah 30:33. The valley of the son of Hinnom, adjoining to Jerusalem, was called Tophet. In that valley, it is supposed, many of the Assyrian regiments lay encamped, and were there slain by the destroying angel; or there the bodies of those that were so slain were burned. Hezekiah had lately, and from yesterday (so the word is) ordained it; that is, say some, he had cleared it of the images that were set up in it, to which they there burnt their children, and so prepared it to be a receptacle for the dead bodies of their enemies, for the king of Assyria (that is, for his army) it is prepared, and there is fuel enough ready to burn them all; and they shall be consumed as suddenly and effectually as if the fire were kept burning by a continual stream of brimstone, for such the breath of the Lord, his word and his wrath, will be to it. Now as the prophet, in the foregoing promises, slides insensibly into the promises of gospel graces and comforts, so here, in the threatening of the ruin of Sennacherib's army, he points at the final and everlasting destruction of all impenitent sinners. Our Saviour calls the future misery of the damned Gehenna, in allusion to the valley of Hinnom, which gives some countenance to the applying of this to that misery, as also that in the Apocalypse it is so often called the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. This is said to be prepared of old for the devil and his angels, for the greatest of sinners, the proudest, and that think themselves not accountable to any for what they say and do; even for kings it is prepared. It is deep and large, sufficient to receive the world of the ungodly; the pile thereof is fire and much wood. God's wrath is the fire, and sinners make themselves fuel to it; and the breath of the Lord (the power of his anger) kindles it, and will keep it ever burning. See Isaiah 66:24; Isaiah 66:24. Wherefore stand in awe and sin not.

      III. The great joy which this should occasion to the people of God. The Assyrian's fall is Jerusalem's triumph (Isaiah 30:29; Isaiah 30:29): You shall have a song as in the night, a psalm of praise such as those sing who by night stand in the house of the Lord, and sing to his glory who gives songs in the night. It shall not be a song of vain mirth, but a sacred song, such as was sung when a holy solemnity was kept in a grave and religious manner. Our joy in the fall of the church's enemies must be a holy joy, gladness of heart, as when one goes, with a pipe (such as the sons of the prophets used when they prophesied, 1 Samuel 10:5), to the mountain of the Lord, there to celebrate the praises of the Mighty One of Israel. Nay, in every place where the divine vengeance shall pursue the Assyrians they shall not only fall unlamented, but all their neighbours shall attend their fall with tabrets and harps, pleased to see how God, in battles of shaking, such as shake them out of the world, fights with them (Isaiah 30:32; Isaiah 30:32); for when the wicked perish there is shouting; and it is with a particular satisfaction that wise and good men see the ruin of those who, like the Assyrians, have insolently bidden defiance to God and trampled upon all mankind.