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The grounded staff "The rod of his correction" - For מוסדה musadah, the grounded staff, of which no one yet has been able to make any tolerable sense, Le Clerc conjectured מוסרה musarah, of correction; (see Proverbs 22:15;); and so it is in two MSS., (one of them ancient), and seems to be so in the Bodleian MS. The Syriac has בדה דשוע deshuebedah, Virgo domans, vet subjectionis, "the taming rod, or rod of subjection."
With tabrets and harps - With every demonstration of joy and thanksgiving for the destruction of the enemy in so wonderful a manner: with hymns of praise, accompanied with musical instruments. See Isaiah 30:29.
With it "Against them" - For בה bah . against her, fifty-two MSS. and five editions read בם bam, against them.
And in every place - Margin, ‹Every passing of the rod founded.‘ Lowth renders it, ‹Whenever shall pass the rod of correction.‘ The whole design of the passage is evidently to foretell the sudden destruction of the army of the Assyrians, and to show that this would be accomplished by the agency of God. The idea seems to be, that in all those places where the rod of the Assyrian would pass, that is, where he would cause devastation and desolation, there would be the sound of rejoicing with instruments of music when he should be overthrown.
The grounded staff - The word ‹staff‘ here, or “rod,” seems to refer to that by which the Assyrian smote the nations Isaiah 30:31; or rather perhaps the Assyrian king himself as a rod of correction in the hand of Yahweh (see Isaiah 10:5). The word rendered ‹grounded‘ (מוסדה mûsâdâh ) has given great perplexity to commentators. Lowth supposes it should be מוסרח (“correction”), according to a conjecture of Le Clerc. Two manuscripts also read it in the same way. But the authority from the MSS. is not sufficient to justify a change in the present Hebrew text. This word, which is not very intelligibly rendered ‹grounded,‘ is derived from יסד yâsad to “found, to lay the foundation of a building” Ezra 3:12; Isaiah 54:11; then to establish, to appoint, to ordain Psalm 104:8; Habakkuk 1:12. The idea here is, therefore, that the rod referred to had been “appointed, constituted, ordained” by God; that is, that the Assyrian had been designated by him to accomplish important purposes as a rod, or as a means of punishing the nations.
Shall pass - In his march of desolation and conquest.
Which the Lord shall lay upon him - Or rather, as it should be translated, ‹upon which Yahweh should lay,‘ that is, the rod, meaning that in all those places where Yahweh should lay this appointed scourge there would be yet rejoicing.
It shall be with tabrets and harps - Those places where he had passed, and which he had scourged, would be filled with joy and rejoicing at his complete overthrow, and at their entire deliverance from the scourge. For a description of the tabret and harp, see the notes at Isaiah 5:12.
And in battles of shaking - In the Hebrew there is an allusion here to what is said in Isaiah 30:28, that he would ‹sift,‘ that is, agitate or toss the nations as in a winnowing shovel.
Will he fight with it - Margin, ‹Against them.‘ Yahweh would fight against the ‹rod,‘ to wit, the Assyrian, and destroy him (see Isaiah 37:36).
The pride of Assyria and its fall are to serve as an object lesson to the end of time. Of the nations of earth today who in arrogance and pride array themselves against Him, God inquires, “To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth.” Verse 18. PK 366.1
“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him. But with an overrunning flood He will make an utter end” of all who endeavor to exalt themselves above the Most High. Nahum 1:7, 8. PK 366.2
“The pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart away.” Zechariah 10:11. This is true not only of the nations that arrayed themselves against God in ancient times, but also of nations today who fail of fulfilling the divine purpose. In the day of final awards, when the righteous Judge of all the earth shall “sift the nations” (Isaiah 30:28), and those that have kept the truth shall be permitted to enter the City of God, heaven's arches will ring with the triumphant songs of the redeemed. “Ye shall have a song,” the prophet declares, “as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the Mighty One of Israel. And the Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard.... Through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod. And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps.” Verses 29-32. PK 366.3
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