For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.

ISAIAH 10:25KJV
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Isaiah 10:25 (KJV)

What does Isaiah 10:25 mean?

Isaiah 10:25 tells the people of Zion that God’s anger against them will soon end. The verse also points toward the destruction of the Assyrians, the power that has been oppressing them. The KJV’s closing phrase, “mine anger in their destruction,” links God’s anger with the Assyrians’ downfall.

God is speaking through Isaiah to people who have reason to fear Assyria. After telling them not to fear the Assyrian in verse 24, God gives a reason: the time of indignation is limited. The word “their” points back to the Assyrian oppressors, rather than to the people being addressed.

The Hebrew behind Isaiah 10:25

  • “indignation” — זַעַם (zaʿam): This word carries the sense of strong anger. Here, it describes God’s anger during the period when Assyria is threatening his people.
  • “destruction” — תַּבְלִית (tablīt): This word can carry the sense of an end or complete destruction. The KJV’s “their destruction” presents the Assyrians as the ones facing that end.

Why Isaiah 10:25 matters

  • Assyria’s power has a limit. The phrase “a very little while” places an endpoint on the threat, rather than treating Assyrian rule as permanent.
  • The verse separates the people of Zion from their oppressors. God addresses Zion in verse 24, while “their destruction” in verse 25 concerns the Assyrians who have struck them.
  • The promise fits the passage’s picture of Assyria as an instrument of God’s anger. Earlier, Isaiah 10:5 calls Assyria “the rod of mine anger,” but verse 25 points to an end for that instrument too.

Where else these words appear

“very” Hebrew H4213 · used in 4 verses

  • Isaiah 16:14 But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.
  • Isaiah 24:6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
  • Isaiah 29:17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?

“indignation” Hebrew H2195 · used in 22 verses

  • Psalms 38:3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
  • Isaiah 30:27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
  • Ezekiel 22:31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.

“while” Hebrew H4592 · used in 92 verses

  • Genesis 18:4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
  • 1 Samuel 14:29 Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey.
  • Proverbs 6:10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: