The Meaning of Isaiah 30:31 Explained

Isaiah 30:31

KJV: For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.

YLT: For from the voice of Jehovah broken down is Asshur, With a rod He smiteth.

Darby: For through the voice of Jehovah shall the Assyrian be broken down: he will smite him with the rod.

ASV: For through the voice of Jehovah shall the Assyrian be dismayed; with his rod will he smite him .

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For through the voice  of the LORD  shall the Assyrian  be beaten down,  [which] smote  with a rod. 

What does Isaiah 30:31 Mean?

Context Summary

Isaiah 30:18-33 - The Goodness Of God's Severity
Jerusalem refused God's invitation to return to Him and rest; they preferred to trust in Egyptian cavalry. Their Almighty Friend knew that this would end in disappointment, but He said that He would wait till they had exhausted every expedient and returned to Him. Then would He be gracious and have mercy. The results of repentance and forgiveness are set forth with singular beauty: no more tears; great grace; answered prayer; divine teaching; guidance in the right way; no more idols; good harvests and rich pasture-lands; the dumb creation benefiting by man's repentance; and thus, in Isaiah 30:26, we come to the light of the millennial dawn.
In Isaiah 30:27-33 Jehovah is represented as coming to avenge His people and to judge their enemies. Their welcoming gladness is compared in Isaiah 30:29 to the songs of the Hebrew festivals. What a magnificent description in Isaiah 30:30-31 of Jehovah as a man of war! Every stroke He inflicted on the foe would awaken the music of tabrets and harps in the temple at Zion. Tophet, near Jerusalem, was the place where refuse was burnt. The spiritual counterpart of its fire is ever burning up the waste-products of men and nations. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 30

1  The prophet threatens the people for their confidence in Egypt
8  And contempt of God's word
18  God's mercies toward his church
27  God's wrath and the people's joy, in the destruction of Assyria

What do the individual words in Isaiah 30:31 mean?

For through the voice of Yahweh will be beaten down Assyria with the rod [As] He strikes
כִּֽי־ מִקּ֥וֹל יְהוָ֖ה יֵחַ֣ת אַשּׁ֑וּר בַּשֵּׁ֖בֶט יַכֶּֽה

מִקּ֥וֹל  through  the  voice 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: קֹול 
Sense: voice, sound, noise.
יְהוָ֖ה  of  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
יֵחַ֣ת  will  be  beaten  down 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: חָתַת  
Sense: to be shattered, be dismayed, be broken, be abolished, be afraid.
אַשּׁ֑וּר  Assyria 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: אַשּׁוּר  
Sense: the second son of Shem, eponymous ancestor of the Assyrians.
בַּשֵּׁ֖בֶט  with  the  rod 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֵׁבֶט  
Sense: rod, staff, branch, offshoot, club, sceptre, tribe.
יַכֶּֽה  [As]  He  strikes 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: נָכָה  
Sense: to strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, kill.