Bible Strands
Isaiah 10:4
Nothing will remain but to crouch among the captives or fall among the slain. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Isaiah addresses Israel's corrupt leaders regarding the coming day of reckoning when foreign devastation arrives. He asks what they will do when their wealth fails and no human help remains.
The words — The Hebrew בִּלְתִּ֤י (bil.Ti) means "except," establishing that total ruin leaves only crouching under captives or falling among the slain. The phrase בְּ/כָל־ (be./khol) translates as "for all," introducing the declaration that God's anger remains unrelieved despite the devastation.
The thread — The clause "His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised" appears in Isaiah 5:25 and Isaiah 9:12 as a refrain marking ongoing judgment. It echoes Deuteronomy 32:30, where Israel's military defeats are attributed to God's active opposition rather than enemy strength.
Why it lands — The text states that stored wealth and political alliances cannot halt divine discipline, and God's wrath continues even as His people face ruin. It requires the reader to abandon reliance on human security and acknowledge that judgment proceeds until God's purpose is fulfilled.
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
Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 5:25 Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lie like refuse in the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
- Deuteronomy 32:30 How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?
- Isaiah 9:12 Aram from the east and Philistia from the west have devoured Israel with open mouths. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
- Jeremiah 37:10 Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire army of the Chaldeans that is fighting against you, and only wounded men remained in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.”
- Leviticus 26:17 And I will set My face against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you.
- Leviticus 26:36 As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. And they will flee as one flees the sword, and fall when no one pursues them.
- Deuteronomy 31:15 Then the LORD appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.
- Isaiah 9:17 Therefore the Lord takes no pleasure in their young men; He has no compassion on their fatherless and widows. For every one of them is godless and wicked, and every mouth speaks folly. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
- Isaiah 9:21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; together they turn against Judah. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
- Isaiah 22:2 O city of commotion, O town of revelry? Your slain did not die by the sword, nor were they killed in battle.