Isaiah 10:18

The splendor of its forests and orchards, both soul and body, it will completely destroy, as a sickness consumes a man.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The prophet Isaiah pronounces this oracle against Assyria, detailing the total devastation that will follow the Lord's fiery judgment described in the preceding verse. The message targets the Assyrian empire at the moment its military pride is about to be dismantled by divine intervention.

The words — The phrase מִנֶּפֶשׁ עַד־בָּשָׂר (mi./Ne.fesh 'ad- ba.Sar) literally means "from breath to flesh," indicating complete physical consumption. The verb יְכַלֶּה (ye.kha.Leh) translates "it will bring to an end," stressing that the destruction will be absolute and leave nothing intact.

The thread — The text places this consumption immediately after the Lord's flame devours Assyria's thorns and thistles (Isaiah 10:17) and before the warning that surviving trees will be so few a child could count them (Isaiah 10:19). The imagery of divine pruning and lopping off branches with terrifying power recurs in Isaiah 10:33 and parallels the judgment motifs in 2 Kings 19:23 and 2 Kings 19:28.

Why it lands — The passage demands recognition that human military splendor is subject to total divine dismantling. It requires the reader to accept that judgment leaves no partial escape, forcing a direct confrontation with the reality of sovereign authority over national pride.

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

וּכְב֤וֹדu./khe.Vodand/ [the] splendor of יַעְרוֹ֙ya'.R/oforest/ his וְכַרְמִלּ֔וֹve./khar.mi.L/oand/ orchard/ his מִנֶּ֥פֶשׁmi./Ne.feshfrom/ breath וְעַד־ve./'ad-and/ unto בָּשָׂ֖רba.Sarflesh יְכַלֶּ֑הye.kha.Lehit will bring to an end וְהָיָ֖הve./ha.Yahand/ it will be כִּמְסֹ֥סki/m.Sosas/ wastes away נֹסֵֽס׃no.Ses[one who] is sick

King James Version

And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth.

Cross-references

2 Kings 19:23 Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: “With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the remote peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the finest of its cypresses. I have reached its farthest outposts, the densest of its forests.
Isaiah 10:33 Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled.
2 Kings 19:28 Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’
Isaiah 9:18 For wickedness burns like a fire that consumes the thorns and briers and kindles the forest thickets, which roll upward in billows of smoke.
Jeremiah 21:14 I will punish you as your deeds deserve, declares the LORD. I will kindle a fire in your forest that will consume everything around you.’”
Ezekiel 20:47 Say to the forest of the Negev: Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says: I am about to ignite in you a fire, and it will devour all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and by it every face from south to north will be scorched.