Bible Strands
Isaiah 6:13
And though a tenth remains in the land, it will be burned again. As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when felled, so the holy seed will be a stump in the land.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Isaiah speaks to the exiled remnant of Judah following the prophecy of total desolation in Isaiah 6:12. The moment is one of divine judgment where the land has been utterly forsaken and the population driven far away.
The words — עֲשִׂ֣רִיָּ֔ה ('a.Si.ri.Yah) denotes "a tenth part," indicating the surviving remnant. לְ/בָעֵ֑ר (le./va.'Er) literally means "for burning," specifying that even this remnant will face destruction.
The thread — The stump metaphor contrasts with Job 14:7, which promises hope and regrowth for a cut tree. The concept of a surviving remnant reappears in Romans 11:5 as a group chosen by grace.
Why it lands — The text asserts that a tiny surviving group will be reduced to a stump, mirroring felled terebinth and oak trees. It demands the reader acknowledge that divine judgment leaves no natural hope for restoration through human effort alone.
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
But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
Cross-references
- Job 14:7 For there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender shoots will not fail.
- Romans 11:5 In the same way, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.
- Genesis 22:18 And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
- Isaiah 65:8 This is what the LORD says: “As the new wine is found in a cluster of grapes, and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,’ so I will act on behalf of My servants; I will not destroy them all.
- Romans 11:16 If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
- Ezra 9:2 Indeed, the Israelites have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed has been mixed with the people of the land. And the leaders and officials have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness!”
- Isaiah 1:9 Unless the LORD of Hosts had left us a few survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.
- Galatians 3:16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say, “and to seeds,” meaning many, but “and to your seed,” meaning One, who is Christ.
- Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
- Mark 13:20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom He has chosen, He has cut them short.