Isaiah 10:19

Isa 10:19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.

Ver. 19. And the rest of the trees … shall be few.] Heb., A number; methe mispar, a poor few, and inconsiderable company, that may soon be told.

That a child may write them.] The Hebrews say that Sennacherib escaped home with ten only in his company.

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.

rest--those who shall survive the destruction of the host.

his forest--same image as in Isa 10:18, for the once dense army.

child . . . write--so few that a child might count them.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(19) And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few.—To number the host of an army, to count killed and wounded after a battle, was commonly the work of the royal scribe, who appears so often as in that employment in Assyrian sculptures. Here the survivors (the “remnant” as before) were to be so few (literally, a number) that even the boy who could hardly count but on his fingers would be skilled enough to number them.

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

And it shall come to pass in that day,.... Here begins a prophecy relating to the people of Israel, and concerns things that should befall them after the destruction of the Babylonish monarchy, which after Nebuchadnezzar did not last long; there were but two kings after him mentioned in Scripture, Evilmerodach, and Belshazzar; so that its tall trees, its kings, were very few, so few that a child might count them; and what is after said is for the comfort of that people, and seems to refer to the times of the Gospel, as appears by some words in the context cited by the Apostle Paul:

that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob; who should return from the Babylonish captivity, and be settled in their own land:

shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; either on the kings of Egypt, who were originally their oppressors, and in whom they had been so foolish as to put their trust and confidence, they being but a broken staff and reed, Isa 30:2 or on the king of Assyria, in the time of Ahaz, who made him pay tribute, and afterwards fought against him:

but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth; that is, upon Christ, the Lord of all, and King of saints; the Lord their righteousness, and from whom they have their holiness: to stay or lean on him is expressive of faith in him, of reliance and dependence on him, and trust in him; which is done in sincerity and uprightness of soul, unfeigned and without dissimulation; not in profession only, but in reality, and as nakedly revealed in the Gospel, without type and figure; for this respects Gospel times, in which the shadows of the law are gone, and Christ, as the object of faith, appears unveiled, being come a High Priest of good things to come. The Targum is they

"shall no more lean on the people whom they served; but they shall lean upon the Word of the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth;''

that is, on the essential Word, the Messiah: this was the case of a few of them, a remnant according to the election of grace, as the following words show.

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

And the rest of the trees ... - Keeping up still the image of a large and once dense forest, to which he had likened the Assyrian army. ‘The rest’ here means that which shall be left after the threatened judgment shall come upon them.

That a child may write them - That a child shall be able to number them, or write their names; that is, they shall be very few. A child can number or count but few; yet the number of those who would be left, would be so very small that even a child could count them with ease. It is probable that a few of the army of Sennacherib escaped (see the note at Isa 37:37); and compared with the whole army, the remnant might bear a striking resemblance to the few decaying trees of a once magnificent forest of cedars.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

CHAPTER X.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The rest of the trees of his forest; the remainders of that mighty host.

That a child may write them; that they may be easily numbered by the meanest accountant. A child may be their muster-master.

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

19. And the rest of the trees — The few men that are left after the consumption of the army, the “forest” figure being still kept up.

That a child may write them — Or, number them. That is, the “trees” are so few as scarcely to exceed the digits; in poetry not an extravagant expression.

Thus much concerning the divine judgments on Assyria in return for its selfish part in the punishments of Israel, but probably a prophetic description in the gross; that is, genuine account of all punishments that ever came on the great world-kingdom in the East. The picture is seen in spaces, with its nearer parts distinct, but its remoter, shaded, yet clear enough for a full and complete end, or limit, to be observed. Still other views of this picture are to be given, and many details presented.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The rest of the trees; i.e. these that escape the burning shall be few; literally, a number; i.e. so few that their number shall be apparent.

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

The rest - The remainder of that mighty host.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“And the rest (or remnant) of the trees of his forest shall be few, and a child shall write them, (i.e., make a list or catalogue), and by implication number them. 10.20 And it shall be (or come to pass) in that day (that is, after these events have taken place), that the remnant of Israel, and the escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no longer add (i.e., continue) to lean upon their smiter (him that smote them), but shall lean upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.” There is here an allusion to the circumstances which gave rise to this whole prophecy. Ahaz, renouncing his dependence upon God, had sought the aid of Assyria, which secured his deliverance from present danger, but subjected the kingdom to worse evils from the very power to which they had resorted. But even these oppressions were to have an end in the destruction of the hostile power; and when this should take place, Judah, now instructed by experience, would no longer trust in tyrants but sincerely in Jehovah. The reference is not to a sudden and immediate effect, but to a gradual result of the divine dispensations, so that what is here predicted, though it began to be fulfilled from the time of that catastrophe, did not receive its final consummation before Christ’s appearance.

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

And the remaining trees of his forest The survivors of his armies.

shall be few [lit. a number, i. e.,] easy to count, for they will be few, and a lad will be able to write them, and our Rabbis said that ten remained of them, for there is no small child who cannot write a small ‘yud.’

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.

And the rest of the trees, etc. There will escape but a few, whose number even a boy that has not yet had practice in counting, will be able to calculate and write down.

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.