Bible Strands
Isaiah 10:15
Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses the arrogant nation of Assyria immediately after describing His sovereign collection of wealth from conquered peoples. The rhetorical question interrupts their pride to remind them of their subordinate role.
The words — הַגּרזֶן (ha.gar.Zen) denotes the axe, while יִתְפָּאֵר (yit.pa.'Er) literally means "does it glorify itself." The text uses these terms to describe a tool claiming independence from its user.
The thread — The tool metaphor continues in Isaiah 10:5 where Assyria is named the rod and staff of God's anger. This imagery parallels the creature-to-Creator dynamic in Romans 9:20 and Isaiah 45:9 regarding formed objects questioning their maker.
Why it lands — It demands recognition that national power or human achievement is merely an instrument of divine sovereignty, not an independent agent deserving self-glorification.
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
King James Version
Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.
Cross-references
- Romans 9:20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”
- Isaiah 45:9 Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?
- Isaiah 10:5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.
- Isaiah 29:16 You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of the potter, “He has no understanding”?
- Jeremiah 51:20 “You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.
- Ezekiel 28:9 Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of those who slay you? You will be only a man, not a god, in the hands of those who wound you.
- Psalms 17:13 Arise, O LORD, confront them! Bring them to their knees; deliver me from the wicked by Your sword,