Isaiah 25:10

For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) Moab shall be trodden down . . .—There seems at first something like a descent from the great apocalypse of a triumph over death and sin and sorrow, to a name associated with the local victories or defeats of a remote period in the history of Israel. The inscription of the Moabite stone, in connection with Isaiah 15, helps to explain the nature of the allusion. Moab had been prominent among the enemies of Israel; the claims of Chemosh, the god of Moab, had been set up against those of Jehovah, the God of Israel (Records of the Past, xi. 166), and so the name had become representative of His enemies. There was a mystical Moab, as there was afterwards a mystical Babylon, and in Rabbinic writings a mystical Edom (i.e., Rome). The proud nation was to lie wallowing in the mire of shame, trampled on by its s on the threshing-floor is trampled by the oxen till it looks like a heap of dung. In the Hebrew word for “dunghill” (madmēnah) we may probably trace a reference to the Moabite city of that name (Jeremiah 48:2), in which Isaiah sees an unconscious prophecy of the future condition of the whole nation.

Benson Commentary

Isaiah 25:10. For in this mountain — In the gospel church; (he alludes to mount Zion, which was a type of it;) shall the hand of the Lord rest — His powerful and gracious presence (which is often signified in Scripture by God’s hand) shall have its constant and settled abode: it shall not move from place to place, as it formerly did, with the tabernacle; nor shall it depart as it did from Jerusalem, but shall continue in his church, even to the end of the world, Matthew 28:20. And Moab shall be trodden down under him. — Under his feet, as appears by the following similitude. The Moabites, having been constant and implacable enemies to Israel, are here put for all the enemies of God’s church, as the Edomites upon the same account are, chap. 34:6, and 63:1. Even as straw is trodden down — Even as easily and effectually as the straw, left upon the ground, is trampled upon by the feet of men and beasts.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

25:9-12 With joy and praise will those entertain the glad tidings of the Redeemer, who looked for him; and with a triumphant song will glorified saints enter into the joy of their Lord. And it is not in vain to wait for him; for the mercy comes at last, with abundant recompence for the delay. The hands once stretched out upon the cross, to make way for our salvation, will at length be stretched forth to destroy all impenitent sinners. Moab is here put for all adversaries of God's people; they shall all be trodden down or threshed. God shall bring down the pride of the enemies by one humbling judgment after another. This destruction of Moab is typical of Christ's victory, and the pulling down of Satan's strong holds. Therefore, beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; for your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For in this mountain - In mount Zion.

Shall the land of the Lord rest - "The hand" in the Scriptures is often used as the symbol of protection and defense. By the expression that the hand of Yahweh should REST on mount Zion, is meant probably that be would be its defender; his protection would not be withdrawn, but would be permanent there. For an illustration of the phrase, see a similar use of the word hand as denoting protection, in Ezra 7:6, Ezra 7:28; Ezra 8:18, Ezra 8:22, Ezra 8:31; Nehemiah 2:8.

And Moab - (For an account of Moab, see the notes at Isaiah 15:1-9; Isaiah 16:1-14.) Moab here seems to be used in a general sense to denote the enemies of God, a and the declaration that it would be trodden down seems designed to indicate that the foes of God and his people would all be destroyed (compare the notes at Isaiah 34)

Under him - The Chaldee renders this, 'In his own place.' The phrase has the sense of 'in his place,' in Exodus 16:29; 2 Samuel 2:23. Here it may mean that Moab, or the enemies of God, would be trodden down and destroyed in their own land.

As straw is trodden down for the dunghill - As straw is suffered to lie in the yard where cattle lie, to be trodden down by them for the purpose of making manure. Lowth renders this,

'As the straw is threshed under the wheels of the car.'

The Septuagint renders it in the same way. Lowth supposes that there has been an error in transcribing the Hebrew text, and that the former reading was מדכבה instead of מדמנה. But there is not the slightest evidence from the MSS that any such mistake has occurred. Nor is it necessary to suppose it. The image is one that is not of unfrequent occurrence in the Scriptures, to denote the complete and disgraceful prostration of an enemy (see Psalm 83:10; 2 Kings 9:37; Jeremiah 8:2; Jeremiah 9:22; Jeremiah 16:4; Jeremiah 25:33).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10. rest—as its permanent protector; on "hand" in this sense; compare Ezr 7:6, 28.

Moab—while Israel is being protected, the foe is destroyed; Moab is the representative of all the foes of God's people.

under him—Rather, "in his own place" or "country" (Ex 10:23; 16:29).

for the dunghill—Rather, "in the water of the dung heap," in which straw was trodden to make it manure (Ps 83:10). Horsley translates either, "in the waters of Madmenah," namely, for the making of bricks; or as the Septuagint, "as the threshing-floor is trampled by the corn-drag" (see Margin; Mic 4:11-13).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Shall the hand of the Lord rest; the powerful and gracious presence of God (which is oft signified in Scripture by God’s hand) shall have its constant and settled abode; it shall not move from place to place, as it did with the tabernacle; nor shall it depart from it, as it did from Jerusalem; but shall continue in his church even to the end of the world, Matthew 28:20.

Moab; the Moabites, which having been constant and implacable enemies to Israel, are synecdochically put for all the enemies of God’s church, as the Edomites upon the same account are, Isaiah 34:6 63:1.

Under him; under his feet, as appears by the following similitude.

Even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill; as easily and as effectually as the straw, which being left upon the ground, and mixed with the dung which lies there, is trampled upon by the feet of men and beasts.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For in this mountain shall the hand of the Lord rest,.... Where he will make the feast of fat things, Isaiah 25:6 even in his church, which is his resting place, and where he delights to dwell; and over whom his hand is, and abides for their protection and safeguard; and where he gives rest, as the Septuagint (k) render it; even spiritual rest to the souls of his people; and where, as the Targum has it,

"the power of the Lord is revealed;''

namely, in the preservation of his church, and in the destruction of its enemies; as follows:

and Moab shall be trodden down under him: under the Lord, and his mighty hand of power; or "under it"; under the mountain, the church; under the feet of the saints; see Malachi 4:2 or, "in his place" (l), as Jarchi and Kimchi explain it; wherever he is, or shall be found, where he lies there shall he be trodden upon. By Moab the enemies of the church are meant, and is put for them all, even all the antichristian powers, both Turks and Papists; their ruin is expressed by treading down or threshing, in allusion to the threshing of corn, as the word used mostly signifies, when the straw is bruised by the cartwheel, or the feet of oxen; or to the treading of straw in the mire, as follows:

even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill; or in "it" (m); or "in the waters of the dunghill" (n), as the Cetib; where being cast and trodden, it rots, and becomes dung; and so the Targum,

"as straw is trodden in the clay;''

Jarchi interprets it to this sense. R. Joseph Kimchi takes it to be the name of a place, Madmenah, which was one of the cities of Moab, Jeremiah 48:2.

(k) . (l) "apud se", i.e. "in loco suo", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius. (m) as the Keri or marginal reading directs it should be read. (n) in "aquis sterquilinii", De Dieu.

Geneva Study Bible

For on this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and {l} Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the {m} dunghill.

(l) By Moab are meant all the enemies of his Church.

(m) There were two cities by this name: one in Judah, 1Ch 6:81 and another in the land of Moab, Jer 48:2 which seems to have been a plentiful place of corn, Isa 36:17.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

10. The fate of Moab is contrasted with that of Israel. It is as if one hand of Jehovah rested lightly and protectingly on Zion while the other crushes and extinguishes Moab.

under him] means “under himself,” i.e. in the place where he (Moab) stands.

for the dunghill] R.V. in the water of the dunghill rightly follows the consonantal text in opposition to the Massoretic tradition. But it should have at the same time substituted “dung-pit” for “dunghill.” This word (madmçnâh) is perhaps a play on the name Madmen (Jeremiah 48:2); it also resembles the word for “straw” (mathbçn).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 10. - In this mountain shall the hand of the Lord rest. The protecting hand of God will ever be stretched out over the spiritual Zion - the Church of the Redeemed - to defend it and keep it safe throughout eternity. Moab shall be trodden down. Various reasons have been given for the selection of Moab to represent the enemies of the redeemed. Perhaps, as the Moabites were, on the whole, the bitterest of all the adversaries of the Jews (see 2 Kings 24:2; Ezekiel 25:8-11), they are regarded as the fittest representatives of the human adversaries of God. For the dung-hill; rather, in the water of a dung-pit. The image is, perhaps, selected with conscious reference to Psalm 83, where the psalmist prays that the "children of Lot" and their helpers may become "as the dung of the earth" (ver. 10). Isaiah 25:10

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

In the land of promise there is rejoicing, but on the other side of the Jordan there is fear of ruin. Two contrasted pictures are placed here side by side. The Jordan is the same as the "great gulf" in the parable of the rich man. Upon Zion Jehovah descends in mercy, but upon the highlands of Moab in His wrath. "For the hand of Jehovah will sink down upon this mountain, and Moab is trodden down there where it is, as straw is trodden down in the water of the dung-pit. And he spreadeth out his hands in the pool therein, as the swimmer spreadeth them out to swim; but Jehovah forceth down the pride of Moab in spite of the artifices of his hands. Yea, thy steep, towering walls He bows down, forces under, and casts earthwards into dust." Jehovah brings down His hand upon Zion (nūach, as in Isaiah 7:2; Isaiah 11:1), not only to shelter, but also to avenge. Israel, that has been despised, He now makes glorious, and for contemptuous Moab He prepares a shameful end. In the place where it now is תּחתּיו, as in 2 Samuel 7:10; Habakkuk 3:16, "in its own place," its own land) it is threshed down, stamped or trodden down, as straw is trodden down into a dung-pit to turn it into manure: hiddūsh, the inf. constr., with the vowel sound u, possibly to distinguish it from the inf. absol. hiddosh (Ewald, 240, b). Instead of בּמו (as in Isaiah 43:2), the chethib has בּמי (cf., Job 9:30); and this is probably the more correct reading, since madmēnâh, by itself, means the dunghill, and not the tank of dung water. At the same time, it is quite possible that b'mo is intended as a play upon the name Moab, just as the word madmēnâh may possibly have been chosen with a play upon the Moabitish Madmēn (Jeremiah 48:2). In Isaiah 25:11 Jehovah would be the subject, if b'kirbo (in the midst of it) referred back to Moab; but although the figure of Jehovah pressing down the pride of Moab, by spreading out His hands within it like a swimmer, might produce the impression of boldness and dignity in a different connection, yet here, where Moab has just been described as forced down into the manure-pit, the comparison of Jehovah to a swimmer would be a very offensive one. The swimmer is Moab itself, as Gesenius, Hitzig, Knobel, and in fact the majority of commentators suppose. "In the midst of it:" b'kirbo points back in a neuter sense to the place into which Moab had been violently plunged, and which was so little adapted for swimming. A man cannot swim in a manure pond; but Moab attempts it, though without success, for Jehovah presses down the pride of Moab in spite of its artifices עם, as in Nehemiah 5:18; ארבּות, written with dagesh (according to the majority of MSS, from ארבּה, like the Arabic urbe, irbe, cleverness, wit, sharpness), i.e., the skilful and cunning movement of its hands. Saad. gives it correctly, as muchâtale, wiles and stratagems; Hitzig also renders it "machinations," i.e., twistings and turnings, which Moab makes with its arms, for the purpose of keeping itself up in the water. What Isaiah 25:11 affirms in figure, Isaiah 25:12 illustrates without any figure. If the reading were מבצרך חומות משׂגּב, the reference would be to Kir-Moab (Isaiah 15:1; Isaiah 16:7). But as the text stands, we are evidently to understand by it the strong and lofty walls of the cities of Moab in general.