Isa 10:23-24 | KD | STEP | To Him the remnant of Israel would turn, but only the remnant. “For if thy people were even as the sea-sand, the remnant thereof will turn: destruction is firmly determined, flowing away righteousness. For the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, completes the finishing stroke and that which is firmly determined, within the whole land.” As the words are not preceded by any negative clause, ci 'im are not combined in the sense of sed or nisi ; but they belong to two sentences, and signify nam si (for if). If the number of the Israelites were the highest that had been promised, only the remnant among them, or of them ( bō partitive, like the French en ), would turn, or, as the nearer definition ad Deum is wanting here, come back to their right position. With regard to the great mass, destruction was irrevocably determined ( râchatz , τέμνειν, then to resolve upon anything, ἀποτόμως, 1Ki 20:40); and this destruction “overflowed with righteousness,” or rather “flowed on ( shōtēph , as in ) righteousness,” i.e., brought forth righteousness as it flowed onwards, so that it was like a swell of the penal righteousness of God ( shâtaph , with the accusative, according to Ges. §138, Anm. 2). That cillâyōn is not used here in the sense of completion any more than in , is evident from , where câlâh (fem. of câleh , that which vanishes, then the act of vanishing, the end) is used interchangeably with it, and necherâtzâh indicates judgment as a thing irrevocably decided (as in , and borrowed from these passages in ; ). Such a judgment of extermination the almighty Judge had determined to carry fully out ( ‛ōseh in the sense of a fut. instans ) within all the land ( b'kereb , within, not b'thok , in the midst of), that is to say, one that would embrace the whole land and all the people, and would destroy, if not every individual without exception, at any rate the great mass, except a very few.

‏ Isaiah 10:23-24

To Him the remnant of Israel would turn, but only the remnant. “For if thy people were even as the sea-sand, the remnant thereof will turn: destruction is firmly determined, flowing away righteousness. For the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, completes the finishing stroke and that which is firmly determined, within the whole land.” As the words are not preceded by any negative clause, ci 'im are not combined in the sense of sed or nisi; but they belong to two sentences, and signify nam si (for if). If the number of the Israelites were the highest that had been promised, only the remnant among them, or of them (bō partitive, like the French en), would turn, or, as the nearer definition ad Deum is wanting here, come back to their right position. With regard to the great mass, destruction was irrevocably determined (râchatz, τέμνειν, then to resolve upon anything, ἀποτόμως, 1Ki 20:40); and this destruction “overflowed with righteousness,” or rather “flowed on (shōtēph, as in Isa 28:18) righteousness,” i.e., brought forth righteousness as it flowed onwards, so that it was like a swell of the penal righteousness of God (shâtaph, with the accusative, according to Ges. §138, Anm. 2). That cillâyōn is not used here in the sense of completion any more than in Deu 28:65, is evident from Isa 10:23, where câlâh (fem. of câleh, that which vanishes, then the act of vanishing, the end) is used interchangeably with it, and necherâtzâh indicates judgment as a thing irrevocably decided (as in Isa 28:22, and borrowed from these passages in Dan 9:27; Dan 11:36). Such a judgment of extermination the almighty Judge had determined to carry fully out (‛ōseh in the sense of a fut. instans) within all the land (b'kereb, within, not b'thok, in the midst of), that is to say, one that would embrace the whole land and all the people, and would destroy, if not every individual without exception, at any rate the great mass, except a very few. Isa 10:24

In these esoteric addresses, whoever, it is not the prophet’s intention to threaten and terrify, but to comfort and encourage. He therefore turns to that portion of the nation which needs and is susceptible of consolation, and draws this conclusion from the element of consolation contained in what has been already predicted, that they may be consoled. - “Therefore thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, My people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of Asshur, if it shall smite thee with the rod, and lift its stick against thee, in the manner of Egypt.” “Therefore:” lacēn never occurs in Hebrew in the sense of attamen (Gesenius and Hitzig), and this is not the meaning here, but propterea. The elevating appeal is founded upon what has just before been threatened in such terrible words, but at the same time contains an element of promise in the midst of the peremptory judgment. The very words in which the people are addressed, “My people that dwelleth on Zion,” are indirectly encouraging. Zion was the site of the gracious presence of God, and of that sovereignty which had been declared imperishable. Those who dwelt there, and were the people of God (the servants of God), not only according to their calling, but also according to their internal character, were also heirs of the promise; and therefore, even if the Egyptian bondage should be renewed in the Assyrian, they might be assured of this to their consolation, that the redemption of Egypt would also be renewed. “In the manner of Egypt:” b'derek Mitzraim, lit., in the way, i.e., the Egyptians’ mode of acting; derek denotes the course of active procedure, and also, as in Isa 10:26 and Amo 4:10, the course of passive endurance.