Isaiah 10:7

But this is not his intention; this is not his plan. For it is in his heart to destroy and cut off many nations.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The prophet addresses Judah while describing the Assyrian campaign, immediately following God's commission of the king to execute judgment. The speaker clarifies the Assyrian ruler's internal motives at the precise moment his forces are advancing against Israel.

The words — The Hebrew יְדַמֶּה (ye.dammeh) and יַחְשֹׁב (yach.shov) both denote deliberate calculation or strategic planning. The text states that the king's heart harbors no such measured design, only a direct impulse to annihilate and cut off many nations.

The thread — The pattern of human intent operating within divine permission appears in Genesis 50:20, where Joseph observes that human evil is redirected toward preservation, and Acts 2:23, which contrasts the lawless hands that executed Jesus with God’s set plan and foreknowledge.

Why it lands — The verse requires readers to separate political or military outcomes from moral justification, recognizing that human ambition functions independently of divine endorsement. It asks the reader to acknowledge that destructive human plans do not establish their own legitimacy, even when they occur under sovereign allowance.

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

וְהוּא֙ve./Hu'and/ he לֹא־lo'-not כֵ֣ןkhenthus יְדַמֶּ֔הye.da.Mehhe intended וּלְבָב֖וֹu./le.va.V/oand/ heart/ his לֹא־lo'-not כֵ֣ןkhenthus יַחְשֹׁ֑בyach.Shoit planned כִּ֚יkifor לְהַשְׁמִ֣ידle./hash.Midto/ destroy בִּלְבָב֔וֹbi/l.va.V/o[is] in/ heart/ his וּלְהַכְרִ֥יתu./le./hakh.Ritand/ to/ cut off גּוֹיִ֖םgo.Yimnations לֹ֥אlo'not מְעָֽט׃me.'Ata few

King James Version

Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.

Cross-references

Genesis 50:20 As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.
Micah 4:11 But now many nations have assembled against you, saying, “Let her be defiled, and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”
Acts 2:23 He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.
Isaiah 36:18 Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
Isaiah 37:11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries, devoting them to destruction. Will you then be spared?
Acts 13:27 The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning Him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.