Keraia
Isaiah 10

Isaiah 10:9

Judgment on Assyria · Isaiah 10:5–19
Read Isaiah 10

Translations

Modern
“Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?
Traditional
Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?
Literal
Or is not Calno like Carchemish? Or is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?
Latin
Numquid non principes mei simul reges sunt? numquid non ut Charcamis, sic Calano? et ut Arphad, sic Emath? numquid non ut Damascus, sic Samaria?

Original

Hebrew
English
“Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?

Notes

Isaiah 10:9

By 717 BC, Assyria controlled the regions north of Judah. These areas had fallen one by one.

Calno was a city in northern Syria. It is called Calneh in Amos 6:2. The Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III captured it in 738 BC.

Carchemish stood on the Euphrates River. King Sargon II captured it in 717 BC.

Hamath was located on the Orontes River. Assyria brought it under control in 738 BC and again in 720 BC.

Arpad was a city south of Calno. Damascus and Samaria were the capital cities of Syria and Israel. Assyria captured Damascus in 732 BC and Samaria in 722 BC (Isaiah 7:8; 8:4).

Isaiah 10:5–19

God announced judgment on Assyria for several reasons:

  • They destroyed other nations without mercy (Isaiah 10:7).

  • They spoke with pride and dishonored God. They boasted about their own power (Isaiah 10:12).

  • They oppressed other peoples and took what did not belong to them (Isaiah 10:13–14).

  • They believed they were acting on their own. They did not recognize that God was using them (Isaiah 10:15).

Isaiah 10:5–11:16

Isaiah 9:8–10:4 shows that the Lord’s moral law is supreme. This means God’s standards of right and wrong stand above every nation and ruler. The next section explains what this truth means:

  1. Assyria was only a tool in God’s hands. Because of this, Assyria was also responsible to God. Like every other nation, it would face judgment for its sin (Isaiah 10:5–19, 28–34).

  2. Those among God’s people who trusted in him and obeyed his covenant would be rescued (Isaiah 10:20–27).

  3. God would establish his kingdom on earth (Isaiah 11).

Isaiah 7:1–12:6

These prophecies occurred when Assyria rose to power. Syria and Israel formed an alliance against Judah (Isaiah 7:1–2; see 2 Kings 16:5). God used Assyria as a tool to punish Syria, Israel, and Judah (Isaiah 7–10).

Theme notes and profiles

Isaiah Salvation in Isaiah

Events

Places

Arpad: City conquered by Assyria Calneh: Ancient Mesopotamian city, possibly Kullania or Kullanhu Carchemish: Ancient city; site of Babylonian victory over Egypt Damascus: Ancient city, capital of Syria, important in biblical history Hamath: A major city and kingdom in Syria, often mentioned in the Bible Samaria: Capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel; Samaritan inhabitants

Glossary

Arpad Calneh Calno Carchemish Hamath Isaiah, Book of Jesse (Person) Lord Sargon

Topics

Assyria: Celebrated For: Extent of Conquests Assyria: Prophecies Concerning Boasting: Sennacherib Calneh: Also Called Canneh and Calno, a City of Assyria Carchemish: A Babylonian City on the Euphrates, Against Which the King of Egypt Made War Isaiah: Prophecies, Reproofs, and Exhortations of Foretells the Destruction of Sennacherib's Armies Pride: General Scriptures Concerning The Providence of God: The Wicked Made to Promote the Designs