Isaiah 10:4 - Exposition

Without me . That this is a possible rendering of the word used seems proved by Hosea 13:4 . But here it scarcely suits the context. God does not speak directly, in the first person, elsewhere in the entire prophecy (Isa 9:8-10:4), but is spoken of in the third person throughout, as even in the present verse, where we have "his anger," "his hand." It is better, therefore, to give the word its ordinary meaning—"unless," "except." Have they anywhere to flee to, unless they shall crouch amid the captives that are being carried off, or fall amid the slain? In other words, there is no escape for them; they must either submit to captivity or death. For all this , etc. Even when the two kingdoms were destroyed, and the captivity of both was complete, God's wrath was not fully appeased, his anger was not wholly turned away. Both peoples suffered grievous things in their captivity, as appears from the Book of Daniel ( Isaiah 3:1-26 ; Isaiah 6:1-13 .) and other places. It took seventy years for God's anger to be appeased in the case of Judah ( 2 Chronicles 36:21 ), while in the case of Israel it was never appeased. Crushed beneath the iron heel of their conquerors, Israel ceased to exist as a nation.