Isaiah 10:11

Isa 10:11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

Ver. 11. Shall I not as I have done.] God is not in all this man’s thoughts; himself doeth all that is done.

So do to Jerusalem.] Why, no; for "their rock is not as our rock," might God’s people have replied., "our enemies themselves being judges." Vere magnus est Deus Christianorum, said a certain pagan truly. The God of the Christians is a great God above all gods. But the devil doeth all he can to drive us to despair.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10:11 Assyria destroyed Samaria under Shalmaneser V and Sargon II in 722 BC (2 Kgs 17:3-6). If Samaria and Judah worshiped the same God, and Assyria had already defeated Samaria, the king of Assyria could expect to defeat Judah also.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(11) Shall I not, as I have done . . .—The verse gives the occasion of Isaiah’s utterance. Sargon was threatening Jerusalem, probably in the early years of Hezekiah’s reign. The inscriptions show, as Isa_20:1 also does, that he made war against Philistia and besieged Ashdod (Records of the Past, vii. 40).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. But Samaria has fallen, her idols have not saved her; how then can Jerusalem escape, who trusts in the same deity? Samaria and her idols (nonentities) … Jerusalem and her idols (images).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Wherefore it shall come to pass,.... It shall surely be; what God has purposed in his heart, and published in his word, shall certainly be fulfilled:

that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon Mount Zion, and on Jerusalem; in correcting, chastising, and humbling the inhabitants thereof, by suffering them to be besieged by the Assyrian army. God sometimes makes use of wicked men to chastise his people; this is his work, and not theirs; and when he begins, he goes on, and finishes it; and when he has done, punishes the instruments he uses; after he has scourged his children, he takes the rod, and breaks it to pieces.

I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks; that is, he would punish him for his wicked actions, which were the fruit of the haughtiness of his heart, and the pride of his eyes; or for that pride which filled his heart, and showed itself in his lofty looks. Kimchi joins this to the preceding clause, and makes the sense to be, that God would punish the Assyrian for his pride, in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; for there his army died, or near it, being smitten by the angel. The Targum is,

"and it shall be, when the Lord hath finished to do all that he hath said in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem.''

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

I shall certainly do it, and neither God nor man can hinder me.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Shall I not... so do to Jerusalem and her idols? The speaker ignores the fact of any difference in kind between the religion of Judaea and that of the neighboring countries. He speaks as if he knew nothing of any religion without idols. No doubt Assyrian ideas on the subject of the religion of the Jews were at this time, as they were even later, (2Ki_18:22) exceedingly vague and incorrect.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

“Shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and to her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her gods?” The interrogative particle, which properly belongs to the second verb, is placed at the beginning of the sentence, in order to give prominence to its interrogative form, which involves an affirmation.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

as I did to Samaria He shall say this after he conquers Samaria.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Shall I not, etc. This prophecy refers to Sennacherib, when he came to conquer Jerusalem.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.