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Isaiah

About this book
Chapter 25

1 O Lord, you are my God! I will exalt you in praise, I will extol your fame. For you have done extraordinary things, and executed plans made long ago exactly as you decreed. 2 Indeed, you have made the city into a heap of rubble, the fortified town into a heap of ruins; the fortress of foreigners is no longer a city, it will never be rebuilt. 3 So a strong nation will extol you; the towns of powerful nations will fear you. 4 For you are a protector for the poor, a protector for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the rainstorm, a shade from the heat. Though the breath of tyrants is like a winter rainstorm, 5 like heat in a dry land, you humble the boasting foreigners. Just as the shadow of a cloud causes the heat to subside, so he causes the song of tyrants to cease. 6 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will hold a banquet for all the nations⁠ on this mountain.⁠ At this banquet there will be plenty of meat and aged wine—tender meat and choicest wine. 7 On this mountain he will swallow up the shroud that is over all the peoples, the woven covering that is over all the nations; 8 he will swallow up death permanently.⁠ The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from every face, and remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.⁠ Indeed, the Lord has announced it!⁠ 9 At that time they will say, “Look, here is our God! We waited for him, and he delivered us. Here is the Lord! We waited for him. Let’s rejoice and celebrate his deliverance!” 10 For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain23.⁠ Moab will be trampled down where it stands, as a heap of straw is trampled down in a manure pile.⁠ 11 Moab will spread out its hands in the middle of it, just as a swimmer spreads his hands to swim; the Lord will bring down Moab’s pride as it spreads its hands. 12 The fortified city (along with the very tops of your walls) he will knock down, he will bring it down, he will throw it down to the dusty ground.

Texts in conversation

Compare Numbers 24:17 and Isaiah 25:10

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Numbers presents Balaam’s vision of a star and scepter rising from Jacob as signs of future royal power over other nations. Isaiah also uses this imagery to describe authority in judgment, sometimes held by foreign rulers and sometimes by Israel itself.

Passages

Numbers 24:17

Hebrew Bible
15 Then he uttered this oracle: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eyes are open, 16 the oracle of the one who hears the words of God, and who knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, although falling flat on the ground with eyes open: 17 ‘I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not close at hand. A star will march forth out of Jacob, and a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab, and the heads of all the sons of Sheth. 18 Edom will be a possession, Seir, his enemy, will also be a possession; but Israel will act valiantly. 19 A ruler will be established from Jacob; he will destroy the remains of the city.’”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers

Isaiah 25:10

Hebrew Bible
8 he will swallow up death permanently. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from every face, and remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. Indeed, the Lord has announced it! 9 At that time they will say, “Look, here is our God! We waited for him, and he delivered us. Here is the Lord! We waited for him. Let’s rejoice and celebrate his deliverance!” 10 For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain23. Moab will be trampled down where it stands, as a heap of straw is trampled down in a manure pile. 11 Moab will spread out its hands in the middle of it, just as a swimmer spreads his hands to swim; the Lord will bring down Moab’s pride as it spreads its hands. 12 The fortified city (along with the very tops of your walls) he will knock down, he will bring it down, he will throw it down to the dusty ground.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

References

"... “Assyria,” is already familiar from the announcement in 7:17 and the following speeches (compare 7:18, 20; 8:4, 7). Even the idea that God is sending the king of Assyria has been stated there. “my anger,” and “my wrath,” are also familiar. The Vision began by explaining YHWH’s displeasure in chapter 1 and by citing the day of retribution in chapter 2. The great funeral scene in chapter 5 has the repeated refrain “his anger did not turn” (5:25), which is picked up again in 9:16c, 20c, and 10:4. This passage is, in a sense, an explanation of that repeated phrase. “rod,” can refer to a ruler’s scepter, as it does in Genesis 49:10; Numbers 24:17; Judges 5:14; Isaiah 9:3; 11:4; 14:5; and Amos 1:5, 8. Or it may refer to the disciplinarian’s rod of punishment as in Job 9:34 and 21:9, referring to God’s discipline (compare also Proverbs 13:24, etc.; 2 Samuel 7:14; 23:21; Isaiah 14:29). “staff,” may also refer to a scepter, as it does in Jeremiah 48:17; Ezekiel 19:11-14; Psalm 110:2 (“the staff of power”), but not to an educator’s tool. It is more likely a magician’s wand (compare Exodus 7:12). Aaron and Moses use such (Exodus 4:2-4; 7:9-20; 17:5), and it is once called “the staff of God” (Exodus 17:9). Together, the words indicate that God’s royal authority and awesome power have been delegated to the Assyrian—expressions of God’s anger and his wrath ..."
John D. W. Watts, Word Biblical Commentary: Isaiah 1-33 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2004), 187.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Numbers 24:17 and Isaiah 25:10

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