Isaiah 10:18 - Exposition

Forest … fruitful field . "Forest" and "fruitful field" ( carmel ) are sometimes united together, sometimes contrasted. Literally, they denote wild and cultivated woodland. Used symbolically, as here, they are not so much intended to designate different parts of Assyria's glory, as to convey the idea that the destruction will be universal. Both soul and body. Here metaphor is suddenly dropped, and Isaiah shows that he is speaking of the Assyrian people , not of the land or its products. Their destruction, wicked as they were, would be one both of body and soul. As when a standard-bearer fainteth ; rather, as when one that is faint fainteth . Utter prostration and exhaustion is indicated, whichever way the passage is translated.