Cambridge Bible Commentary (1921)
This is the most artistically arranged of all Isaiah's writings.
Question for us to keep in mind:
What's the meaning of "בכל זאת"?
"Nevertheless"? "Therefore"? Another possibility?
(7) My lord Let loose a word against Jacob And it fell upon Israel. (8) But all the people noted— Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria— In arrogance and haughtiness:
(9) “Bricks have fallen— We’ll rebuild with dressed stone; Sycamores have been felled— We’ll grow cedars instead!”
(10) So YHWH let the enemies of Rezin triumph over it and stirred up its foes— (11) Aram from the east And Philistia from the west— Who devoured Israel With greedy mouths!
בכל זאת, His anger has not turned back, And His arm is outstretched still.
(12) For the people has not turned back To Him who struck it And has not sought YHWH of Hosts. (13) So YHWH will cut off from Israel Head and tail, Palm branch and reed, In a single day. (14) Elders and magnates— Such are the heads; Prophets who give false instruction, Such are the tails (15) That people’s leaders have been misleaders, So they that are led have been confused. (16) That is why my lord will not spare their youths, nor show compassion to their orphans and widows; For all are ungodly and wicked, And every mouth speaks impiety. (17) Already wickedness has blazed forth like a fire Devouring thorn and thistle. It has kindled the thickets of the wood, Which have turned into billowing smoke.
בכל זאת, His anger has not turned back, And His arm is outstretched still.
(18) By the fury of YHWHof Hosts, the earth was shaken. Next, the people became like devouring fire: No man spared his countryman. (19) They snatched on the right, but remained hungry, And consumed on the left without being sated. Each devoured the flesh of his own kindred— (20) Manasseh Ephraim’s, and Ephraim Manasseh’s, And both of them against Judah!
בכל זאת, His anger has not turned back, And His arm is outstretched still.
(1) Ha! Those who write out evil writs And compose iniquitous documents, (2) To subvert the cause of the poor, To rob of their rights the needy of My people; That widows may be their spoil, And fatherless children their booty! (3) What will you do on the day of punishment, When the calamity comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help, And how will you save your carcasses (4) From collapsing under [fellow] prisoners, From falling beneath the slain?
בכל זאת, His anger has not turned back, And his arm is outstretched still.
From the Restoration Bible Commentary:
THE DOOM OF EPHRAIM (Isa_9:8 to Isa_10:4)
Strophe One, Isa_9:8-12
This is a judgment against Ephraim for laughing off the facts, for mocking reality, and for their egotistical bragging about how they would overcome God's punishments. If bricks and sycamores are destroyed, Ephraim will replace them with hewn stones and cedars!
Strophe Two, Isa_9:13-17
Here is a judgment against permissiveness, error, and false leadership. The eloquent comparison of crooked priests to the tail of a dog shows that it was the departure from God's truth that caused their apostasy.
Strophe Three, Isa_9:18-21
Here is a judgment against disunity, internal discord and strife. With even their former allies at last turning against Ephraim, and with the Ten Tribes fighting against each other, their final ruin would follow in the deportation of the heart of the nation to Assyria. This took place in 722 B.C.
Strophe Four, Isa_10:1-4
This judgment is against the central government and the judiciary, against those who made and administered the laws. It has often been observed that when these arms of human society fail, there can remain little hope for that society. Although these prophecies against Ephraim were principally focused upon the Northern Israel, they also spilled over in their application to Judah also. God's anger at all of Israel's pride and wickedness was approaching the flash point.
From the Cambridge Bible Commentary:
The key-note of the prophecy is given in the recurrent refrain—Isa_9:12; Isa_9:17; Isa_9:21, Isa_10:4, Isa_5:25. (On the reasons for including ch. Isa_5:25-30 see on that passage.) It is the most artistically arranged of all Isaiah’s writings, being divided into regular strophes as follows:—
(i) Ch. Isa_9:8-12. The introduction (Isa_9:8-10) explains that the oracle concerns the inhabitants of Samaria, and points to the buoyant assurance and self-confidence which was the habitual temper of the Northern Kingdom. The prophet then enters on a review of the various calamities by which Jehovah had sought to bring the nation to repentance, the first of these being the aggressions of its powerful neighbours on the East and the West (Isa_9:11-12). This was the first stroke of Jehovah’s hand.
(ii) Isa_9:13-17. A second blow descends on the impenitent nation in some sudden disaster by which the state is bereft of its leaders, great and small (13–16); the condition of the people is then seen to be utterly corrupt, so that Jehovah withdraws His compassion even from the helpless widows and orphans (17).
(iii) Isa_9:18-21. The third visitation is a state of anarchy and internecine strife, which is described mainly in a succession of powerful and telling images. The nation is rent by the conflict of rival factions, the only bond of unity being a common hatred of Judah.
(iv) Ch. Isa_10:1-4. The fourth strophe opens with a “Woe” on the maladministration of the judges, which was always to Isaiah’s mind the chief symptom of a rotten republic (Isa_9:1-2). This is followed by an allusion to a day of slaughter in which the magnates shall vainly seek safety beneath the slain (3, 4).
[It is possible that another strophe originally stood here, the closing words of which are preserved in Isa_5:25.]
(v) Ch. Isa_5:26-30. The prediction of the Assyrian invasion forms, as has been already explained, the dénouement of this great drama of judgment. (For the exegesis, see on the passage above, pp. 40–42.) The refrain is of course dropped; Jehovah’s wrath is stayed, His hand is no longer stretched forth.
The "hidden" climax:
(כה) עַל־כֵּ֡ן חָרָה֩ אַף־יְהוָ֨ה בְּעַמּ֜וֹ וַיֵּ֣ט יָד֧וֹ עָלָ֣יו וַיַּכֵּ֗הוּ וַֽיִּרְגְּזוּ֙ הֶֽהָרִ֔ים וַתְּהִ֧י נִבְלָתָ֛ם כַּסּוּחָ֖ה בְּקֶ֣רֶב חוּצ֑וֹת בְּכָל־זֹאת֙ לֹא־שָׁ֣ב אַפּ֔וֹ וְע֖וֹד יָד֥וֹ נְטוּיָֽה׃
(כו) וְנָֽשָׂא־נֵ֤ס לַגּוֹיִם֙ מֵרָח֔וֹק וְשָׁ֥רַק ל֖וֹ מִקְצֵ֣ה הָאָ֑רֶץ וְהִנֵּ֥ה מְהֵרָ֖ה קַ֥ל יָבֽוֹא׃ (כז) אֵין־עָיֵ֤ף וְאֵין־כּוֹשֵׁל֙ בּ֔וֹ לֹ֥א יָנ֖וּם וְלֹ֣א יִישָׁ֑ן וְלֹ֤א נִפְתַּח֙ אֵז֣וֹר חֲלָצָ֔יו וְלֹ֥א נִתַּ֖ק שְׂר֥וֹךְ נְעָלָֽיו׃ (כח) אֲשֶׁ֤ר חִצָּיו֙ שְׁנוּנִ֔ים וְכָל־קַשְּׁתֹתָ֖יו דְּרֻכ֑וֹת פַּרְס֤וֹת סוּסָיו֙ כַּצַּ֣ר נֶחְשָׁ֔בוּ וְגַלְגִּלָּ֖יו כַּסּוּפָֽה׃ (כט) שְׁאָגָ֥ה ל֖וֹ כַּלָּבִ֑יא ושאג [יִשְׁאַ֨ג] כַּכְּפִירִ֤ים וְיִנְהֹם֙ וְיֹאחֵ֣ז טֶ֔רֶף וְיַפְלִ֖יט וְאֵ֥ין מַצִּֽיל׃ (ל) וְיִנְהֹ֥ם עָלָ֛יו בַּיּ֥וֹם הַה֖וּא כְּנַהֲמַת־יָ֑ם וְנִבַּ֤ט לָאָ֙רֶץ֙ וְהִנֵּה־חֹ֔שֶׁךְ צַ֣ר וָא֔וֹר חָשַׁ֖ךְ בַּעֲרִיפֶֽיהָ׃ (פ)
(25) That is why YHWH’s anger was roused Against His people, Why He stretched out His arm against it And struck it, So that the mountains quaked, And its corpses lay Like refuse in the streets. Yet his anger has not turned back, And His arm is outstretched still.
(26) He will raise an ensign to a nation afar, Whistle to one at the end of the earth. There it comes with lightning speed! (27) In its ranks, none is weary or stumbles, They never sleep or slumber; The belts on their waists do not come loose, Nor do the thongs of their sandals break. (28) Their arrows are sharpened, And all their bows are drawn. Their horses’ hoofs are like flint, Their chariot wheels like the whirlwind. (29) Their roaring is like a lion’s, They roar like the great beasts; When they growl and seize a prey, They carry it off and none can recover it. (30) But in that day, a roaring shall resound over him like that of the sea; and then he shall look below and, behold, Distressing darkness, with light; Darkness, in its lowering clouds.
Some more bow-and-arrow imagery:
(ז) ק֘וּמָ֤ה יְהוָ֨ה ׀ בְּאַפֶּ֗ךָ הִ֭נָּשֵׂא בְּעַבְר֣וֹת צוֹרְרָ֑י וְע֥וּרָה אֵ֝לַ֗י מִשְׁפָּ֥ט צִוִּֽיתָ׃ (ח) וַעֲדַ֣ת לְ֭אֻמִּים תְּסוֹבְבֶ֑ךָּ וְ֝עָלֶ֗יהָ לַמָּר֥וֹם שֽׁוּבָה׃ (ט) יְהוָה֮ יָדִ֪ין עַ֫מִּ֥ים שָׁפְטֵ֥נִי יְהוָ֑ה כְּצִדְקִ֖י וּכְתֻמִּ֣י עָלָֽי׃ (י) יִגְמָר־נָ֬א רַ֨ע ׀ רְשָׁעִים֮ וּתְכוֹנֵ֪ן צַ֫דִּ֥יק וּבֹחֵ֣ן לִ֭בּ֗וֹת וּכְלָי֗וֹת אֱלֹהִ֥ים צַדִּֽיק׃ (יא) מָֽגִנִּ֥י עַל־אֱלֹהִ֑ים מ֝וֹשִׁ֗יעַ יִשְׁרֵי־לֵֽב׃ (יב) אֱ֭לֹהִים שׁוֹפֵ֣ט צַדִּ֑יק וְ֝אֵ֗ל זֹעֵ֥ם בְּכָל־יֽוֹם׃ (יג) אִם־לֹ֣א יָ֭שׁוּב חַרְבּ֣וֹ יִלְט֑וֹשׁ קַשְׁתּ֥וֹ דָ֝רַ֗ךְ וַֽיְכוֹנְנֶֽהָ׃ (יד) וְ֭לוֹ הֵכִ֣ין כְּלֵי־מָ֑וֶת חִ֝צָּ֗יו לְֽדֹלְקִ֥ים יִפְעָֽל׃
(Alter's Translation)
Rise up, O YHWH in your anger! Lom high against the wrath of my enemies. Rouse for me the justic you ordained!
...
If a man does not repent, then he [YHWH] will sharpen his sword! He puls back his bow and aims it!
And for him, he readies the tools of death, lets fly his arrows at the fleers!
Pulpit commentary (1897):
THE PROPHET RETURNS TO THREATS AND WARNINGS, ADDRESSED CHIEFLY TO THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL. The remainder of this chapter, together with the first four verses of the next, seems to have formed originally a distinct and separate prophecy. The passage is a poem in four stanzas, with the same refrain at the end of each: "For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still."
Cambridge Bible Commentary (1921)
On Isaiah 5:25-30:
That the Assyrians are here alluded to is certain both from the explicit statements of later prophecies, and from the terms of the description itself. It speaks of the foe as characterised by the rapidity of his movements, the perfection of his discipline and military equipment, his love of conquest, and his irresistible might. These features are no doubt highly idealised (as was natural in a first sketch), but it is clear that some particular nation is meant, and we can have no hesitation in saying that the reference is to the most perfect military machine that then existed, the Assyrian army.
Although the passage might be explained fairly enough as the continuation of Isa_5:24, it gains immensely in significance when read as the final strophe of the prophecy in ch. Isa_9:8 to Isa_10:4, a position to which several considerations lead us to assign it.
(1) The latter part of Isa_5:25 occurs as a refrain in Isa_9:12; Isa_9:17; Isa_9:21 and Isa_10:4. It is found nowhere else and its isolated occurrence in Isa_5:25 distinctly weakens the force of Isa_5:24.
(2) The four equal strophes of Isa_9:8 to Isa_10:4 correspond very nearly in length with Isa_5:26-30.
(3) After reading Isa_10:4, we feel that the last word has not been spoken: the hand is still outstretched, we wait to hear of the final blow. The verses before us supply the appropriate climax.
On the other hand, they are not necessary where they stand, Isa_5:24 affording a satisfactory conclusion.
The hypothesis, to be sure, does not remove every difficulty. It is vain to speculate as to the reasons which may have led to the transference; although it might have been suggested by the appositeness of the passage as a reply to the challenge of Isa_5:19. Further, Isa_5:25 is far too short for a complete strophe, and therefore can hardly have followed immediately on Isa_10:4. We must suppose that some verses have been omitted in the process of transference, as irrelevant in their new context.