Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.

ISAIAH 10:15KJV
Know the Bible

Isaiah 10:15 (KJV)

What does Isaiah 10:15 mean?

Isaiah 10:15 challenges the king of Assyria for taking credit as though his power were his own. Speaking through Isaiah, God compares the king to a tool that depends on the person using it. The verse exposes the absurdity of the tool claiming superiority over its user.

The questions follow the king’s claims about his strength and wisdom in verse 13. An axe and a saw cannot work on their own. The picture becomes even more striking when the wooden rod and staff seem to act as though they were the people who lift them.

The Hebrew behind Isaiah 10:15

  • “boast” — פָּאַר (paʾar): The word can carry the sense of displaying or praising one’s own importance. Here the axe is pictured as claiming honor against the person who uses it.
  • “shaketh” — נוּף (nuf): The word can mean moving or swinging something. The same Hebrew word stands behind “shake” later in the verse, where the rod is imagined reversing roles with the person who moves it.

Why Isaiah 10:15 matters

  • The comparison responds to a claim of personal greatness. The king says, “By the strength of my hand I have done it” in verse 13; verse 15 answers with tools that cannot wield themselves.
  • The verse places Assyria’s actions within a larger purpose. Earlier, God calls Assyria “the rod of mine anger” in verse 5, using an image that returns in verse 15.
  • The king’s pride matters to the passage’s outcome. Verse 12 says that God will punish the king of Assyria for his proud words and looks.

Where else these words appear

“axe” Hebrew H1631 · used in 4 verses

  • Deuteronomy 19:5 As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live:
  • Deuteronomy 20:19 When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down(for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege:
  • 1 Kings 6:7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.

“boast” Hebrew H6286 · used in 14 verses

  • Exodus 8:9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?
  • Psalms 149:4 For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
  • Isaiah 60:7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.

“heweth” Hebrew H2672 · used in 22 verses

  • Deuteronomy 6:11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
  • 2 Chronicles 2:18 And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and fourscore thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people a work.
  • Proverbs 9:1 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:

“shaketh” Hebrew H5130 · used in 35 verses

  • Exodus 20:25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
  • Leviticus 14:24 And the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD:
  • Deuteronomy 27:5 And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them.