Bible Strands
Isaiah 10:26
And the LORD of Hosts will brandish a whip against them, as when He struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will raise His staff over the sea, as He did in Egypt.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — YHWH speaks through Isaiah to Judah, promising immediate relief after a brief period of disciplinary fury. The statement bridges the temporary weight of Assyrian oppression and its sudden removal.
The words — עוֹרֵר ('orer) translates literally as "he will wield" or "raise up," paired with שׁוֹט (shot), meaning "a whip." The phrasing describes YHWH actively deploying a weapon of judgment.
The thread — The text directly recalls the defeat of Midian at the rock of Oreb (Judges 7:25) and the Exodus event in Egypt, while Isaiah 9:4 explicitly ties the "day of Midian" to the shattering of oppressive yokes. Isaiah 10:25 and 10:27 frame this action as the mechanism that lifts the burden from Judah's shoulders.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to recognize that present oppression will be resolved by the same decisive power that executed past judgments, demanding reliance on divine action rather than human negotiation.
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
And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 9:4 For as in the day of Midian You have shattered the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, and the rod of their oppressor.
- Judges 7:25 They also captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian; and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. So they pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.
- 2 Kings 19:35 And that very night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
- Exodus 14:16 And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.
- Exodus 14:25 He caused their chariot wheels to wobble, so that they had difficulty driving. “Let us flee from the Israelites,” said the Egyptians, “for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt!”
- Nehemiah 9:10 You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the people of his land, for You knew they had acted with arrogance against our fathers. You made a name for Yourself that endures to this day.
- Psalms 35:23 Awake and rise to my defense, to my cause, my God and my Lord!
- Psalms 83:11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, and all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
- Psalms 106:10 He saved them from the hand that hated them; He redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
- Isaiah 10:16 Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts will send a wasting disease among Assyria’s stout warriors, and under his pomp will be kindled a fire like a burning flame.