Isaiah 10:1

Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees,.... Or, "O ye that decree", c.

Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees - namely, unrighteous judges.

ISAIAH CHAPTER 10 The woe of unjust oppressors, : of Assyria for their pride and ambition: his folly in it, . A remnant of Israel shall be saved, and that speedily, . Sennacherib marching toward Jerusalem, . His judgment, . Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees! unto those magistrates who make unjust laws, and give unjust sentences. That write; either, 1. The scribes, who were assistant to the magistrates, and ofttimes did promote or execute such decrees; or, 2. The unjust magistrates, whose decrees were usually written. So the same thing is repeated in other words. Only this writing may note their obstinacy or perseverance in their unjust decrees, and their proceeding to the execution of them. Grievousness; grievous things, such unjust decrees as cause grief and vexation to their subjects.

Isaiah 10:1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness [which] they have prescribed;Ver. 1. Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees.] Having denounced woe to wicked of all sorts, the prophet here threateneth wicked princes in particular, as the chief causes of God’ s judgments by their misgovernment. Periculosissimum prophetae factum, et cui seditionis dica scribi poterat! This was boldly done of the prophet, and there wanted not those doubtless that would say it was sedition. Luther, for like cause, was called the trumpet of rebellion; sc., for declaring against the Pope’ s decrees and decretals, though never so unrighteous and vexatious; not much short of that made by Nero, Whosoever confesseth himself a Christian - so a Protestant - let him, without further defence of himself, be put to death as a convicted enemy of mankind! And that write grievousness.] Or, And to the writers that write grievous things - viz., the public notaries, registrars, and other under officers; such as were those Persian scribes and posts, who should, in such a case, have obeyed God rather than men. Scultet.

X. (1) Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees . . .—The division of the chapters is again misleading. Isaiah 10:1-4 continue the discourse of Isaiah 9, and end with the final knell, “For all this . . .” With Isaiah 10:5 a new section begins, and is carried on to Isaiah 12:6, which deals, for the first time in the collection of Isaiah’s writings, exclusively with Assyria, and is followed in its turn by utterances that deal with Babylon and other nations. The formula with which the section opens reminds us of that of Isa 5:8; Isaiah 5:11; Isaiah 5:18; Isaiah 5:22, and suggests the thought that the prophet is speaking not only or chiefly of the northern kingdom, as in Isaiah 9:21, but of Israel as including Judah. The evils the prophet denounces are, it will be noted, identical with those in Isaiah 1:23; Isaiah 5:23. For the second clause of the verse, read, “and the scribes who register oppression.” All the formalities of justice were observed punctiliously. The decision of the unjust judge was duly given and recorded, but the outcome of it all was that the poor, the widow, and the fatherless got no redress. The words for “prey” and “rob” are those used in the mysterious name of Isa 8:1. They occur again in Isaiah 10:6. It would seem as if the prophet sought in this way to impress the thought of the great law of divine retribution. Men were reaping as they had sown.

CHAPTER X God's judgments against oppressive rulers, 1-4. The prophet foretells the invasion of Sennacherib, and the destruction of his army. That mighty monarch is represented as a rod in the hand of God to correct his people for their sins; and his ambitious purposes, contrary to his own intentions, are made subservient to the great desires of Providence, 5-11. Having accomplished this work, the Almighty takes account of his impious vauntings, 12-14; and threatens utter destruction to the small and great of his army, represented by the thorns, and the glory of the forest, 15-19. This leads the prophet to comfort his countrymen with the promise of the signal interposition of God in their favour, 24-27. Brief description of the march of Sennarherib towards Jerusalem, and of the alarm and terror which he spread every where as he hastened forward, 28-32. The spirit and rapidity of the description is admirably suited to the subject. The affrighted people are seen fleeing, and the eager invader pursuing; the cries of one city are heard by those of another; and groan swiftly succeeds to groan, till at length the rod is lifted over the last citadel. In this critical situation, however, the promise of a Divine interposition is seasonably renewed. The scene instantly changes; the uplifted arm of this mighty conqueror is at once arrested and laid low by the hand of heaven; the forest of Lebanon, (a figure by which the immense Assyrian host is elegantly pointed out, is hewn down by the axe of the Divine vengeance; and the mind is equally pleased with the equity of the judgment, and the beauty and majesty of the description, 33, 34. NOTES ON CHAP. X

1–4. Fourth strophe. Most critics consider that at this point the scene changes from Samaria to Jerusalem; (1) because the internal condition of Ephraim has already been depicted in the last stages of dissolution and (2) because the abuses here denounced are a constant feature of Isaiah’s prophecies against Judah. In the absence of positive indications these reasons are hardly sufficient to justify so abrupt a transition. It would be more plausible to hold with Giesebrecht and others that the strophe had its place originally among the “woes” of ch. 5; but this also seems unnecessary.

Wo unto them that decree unrighteous decrees - To those who frame statutes that are oppressive and iniquitous. The prophet here refers, doubtless, to the rulers and judges of the land of Judea.

1. Decree unrighteous decrees — Unjust lawmakers. “Making of Eastern decrees differs from ours. They are first written, then the magistrate authenticates or annuls them.” So is the Arab manner.