Isaiah 10:14

My hand reached as into a nest to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. No wing fluttered, no beak opened or chirped.’”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The Assyrian monarch addresses Judah and the conquered nations, claiming his military campaigns resulted from his own strength and cunning. His declaration occurs during a siege threat against Jerusalem, immediately before divine judgment pronounces on his arrogance.

The words — כַּקֵּן (kaqen, “like a nest”) and עֲזֻבֹת (‘ezuvot, “abandoned”) characterize the conquest as a passive collection of defenseless eggs. This pairing underscores the total absence of resistance from the subjugated peoples.

The thread — The tool-versus-user analogy in Isaiah 10:15 directly critiques the speaker’s inflated self-importance, while Proverbs 18:12 warns that pride precedes ruin. Both passages track the pattern of human overreach meeting divine correction.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that military success is an instrument of sovereign will, not proof of autonomous power. It requires the reader to measure human achievement against the reality of its appointed limits.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַתִּמְצָ֨אva./tim.Tza'and/ it has found כַקֵּ֤ן׀kha./Kenlike <the>/ nest יָדִי֙ya.D/ihand/ my לְחֵ֣ילle./Cheil<to>/ [the] wealth of הָֽעַמִּ֔יםha./'a.Mimthe/ peoples וְכֶאֱסֹף֙ve./khe./'e.Sofand/ as/ gathers בֵּיצִ֣יםbei.Tzimeggs עֲזֻב֔וֹתa.zu.Votabandoned כָּל־kol-all הָאָ֖רֶץha./'A.retzthe/ earth אֲנִ֣י'a.NiI אָסָ֑פְתִּי'a.Sa.fe.tiI have gathered וְלֹ֤אve./Lo'and/ not הָיָה֙ha.Yahany was נֹדֵ֣דno.Dedfluttering כָּנָ֔ףka.Nafa wing וּפֹצֶ֥הu./fo.Tzehand/ opening פֶ֖הfeha mouth וּמְצַפְצֵֽף׃u./me.tzaf.Tzefand/ chirping

King James Version

And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.

Cross-references

Job 31:25 if I have rejoiced in my great wealth because my hand had gained so much,
Proverbs 18:12 Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.
Proverbs 21:6 Making a fortune by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist, a deadly pursuit.
Isaiah 5:8 Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field until no place is left and you live alone in the land.
Jeremiah 49:16 The terror you cause and the pride of your heart have deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks, O occupiers of the mountain summit. Though you elevate your nest like the eagle, even from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.
Hosea 12:7 A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.
Obadiah 1:4 Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, even from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.
Nahum 2:9 “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious thing.
Habakkuk 2:5 and wealth indeed betrays him. He is an arrogant man never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself and collects all the peoples as his own.