“For it says, “Are not my princes all kings?
Is not Calno like Carchemish,
Or Hamath like Arpad,
Or Samaria like Damascus?
As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,
Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images
Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?”
So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness.”
For he has said,
“By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this,
For I have understanding;
And I removed the boundaries of the peoples
And plundered their treasures,
And like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants,
And my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a nest,
And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth;
And there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or chirped.””
Isaiah 10:8-14 NASB1995
This is a challenging passage, I must admit. I looked at various commentaries and I think the one in Enduring Word is pretty good:
a. Are not my princes altogether kings: Assyria had such an inflated view of themselves that they regarded their princes to be on the level of the kings of other nations.
b. As I have done to Samaria and her idols, shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols? Here, the LORD described the proud, arrogant heart of the Assyrians. Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, which was given over to gross idolatry. Jerusalem was the capital of the southern kingdom of Judah, which still maintained some worship of the Lord GOD. In their pride, the Assyrians thought the Lord GOD nothing more than one of the idols that they had conquered in Samaria or in many other cities. The Assyrians were in for a rude wake-up call.
i. “The cities mentioned in verses 9 and 10 came under Assyrian control between 740 and 721 B.C., and none of the gods of these areas had provided the slightest help. It was assumed that the ‘idols’ (v.10) of Jerusalem were equally impotent.” (Wolf)
c. I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks: The pride of Assyria and her king was found in his arrogant heart and exposed by his haughty looks. How much pride can be revealed by a haughty look.
i. The Bible describes God’s opinion of haughty looks: A haughty look, a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked are sin. (Proverbs 21:4) The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure (Psalm 101:5). For You will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks (Psalm 18:27).
d. By the strength of my hand I have done it: Again, the LORD revealed the heart of Assyria. They gloried in their own strength and wisdom (by my wisdom, for I am prudent). They exaggerated their power (I have gathered all the earth).
i. Julius Caesar had this heart of pride when he said of his military conquests: Veni, vidi, vici (“I came, I saw, I conquered”). Charles V had a better heart when he said of his military conquests, Veni, vidi, sed Christus vicit (“I came, I saw, but Christ conquered”).
That helps explain this a bit better. The Assyrians and their king are so arrogant and sure of themselves that they consider Jerusalem just another place to conquer because it has useless gods. They don’t recognize the one true God that is still worshipped to some extent in Judah. They consider their princes to be as kings. The cities that came under their control and the idols those people worshipped did nothing to stop the conquering. The king believes that he can do the impossible and gather “all of the earth”.
Some experts consider this verse (repeated below) to be both a short term and long-term prophecy, pointing to our future as well as the time in history in Judah, when the Assyrians are overcome by the Babylonians:
So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness.”
Once again, pride is the deadliest of sins, manifested in the arrogant heart and pompous and haughty looks of the king of Assyria. This guy is long-dead and not remembered at all today, but during his life he obviously felt like he was “king of the world”. Let’s look at the scripture references for haughty looks that are referenced in the commentary:
“Haughty eyes and a proud heart,
The lamp of the wicked, is sin.”
Proverbs 21:4 NASB1995
“Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy;
No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure.”
Psalms 101:5 NASB1995
“For You save an afflicted people,
But haughty eyes You abase.”
Psalms 18:27 NASB1995
The Assyrian commander Rabshakeh illustrates this arrogance perfectly in this passage from 2 Kings 18 (found through the commentary from Precept Austin:
“Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean, saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus says the king, ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from my hand; nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, “Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat each of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live and not die.”
But do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their land from my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’ ””
2 Kings 18:28-35 NASB1995
Hezekiah is, of course, coming up in my continuing studies of Isaiah. The Lord WILL deliver us!
My next devotional examines Isaiah 10:15-19 - God assesses the arrogance of Assyria.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - As I read these words about arrogance and a haughty look, my mind drifted to many examples from our current social climate that worships celebrities. You can’t go five minutes on social media without seeing some celebrity who thinks they know it all looking down on the masses. May we always ask for a heart of humility and a countenance that reflects Your love. Amen.
Citations and Credits:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org.
Precept Austin was accessed on 10/25/2026 to review commentary for Isaiah 10:8-14.
Biblehub.org was accessed on 10/25/2026 to review commentary for Isaiah 10:8-14.
Commentary from Enduring Word is used with written permission and without any alteration. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com. At the link referenced, the bibliography used by David Guzik can be accessed.