And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.

ISAIAH 10:27KJV
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Isaiah 10:27 (KJV)

What does Isaiah 10:27 mean?

Isaiah 10:27 says that God will bring Assyria’s oppression of his people to an end. The verse pictures that rule as a load and a yoke removed from their bodies. The KJV describes the yoke’s destruction as happening “because of the anointing.”

A yoke was a wooden frame placed on an animal’s neck so that it could pull a load. Isaiah uses that familiar image to describe the control Assyria exercised over people. The change comes “in that day,” the time of deliverance described in the surrounding passage.

The Hebrew behind Isaiah 10:27

  • “burden” — סֵבֶל (sevel): A load or heavy burden. Here the word pictures the strain of Assyrian rule as a weight carried on the shoulder.
  • “anointing” — שֶׁמֶן (shemen): Oil or fatness. The KJV renders the phrase “because of the anointing,” while some translations understand the image as a yoke breaking because an animal has grown fat.

Why Isaiah 10:27 matters

  • The burden belongs to the oppressor, not the people carrying it. The words “his burden” and “his yoke” point back to the Assyrian named in verse 24.
  • The verse promises more than a lighter load. The KJV says that the yoke will be “destroyed,” marking an end to the restraint itself.
  • The wording about “anointing” is important but difficult. The underlying word can mean oil or fatness, so readers should be careful about building a detailed explanation on the English word alone.

Where else these words appear

“burden” Hebrew H5448 · used in 3 verses

  • Isaiah 9:4 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.
  • Isaiah 14:25 That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.

“shoulder” Hebrew H7926 · used in 22 verses

  • Genesis 9:23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
  • Joshua 4:5 And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:
  • Psalms 81:6 I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.

“destroyed” Hebrew H2254 · used in 25 verses

  • Exodus 22:26 If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:
  • Job 34:31 Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more:
  • Isaiah 13:5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.

“yoke” Hebrew H5923 · used in 34 verses

  • Genesis 27:40 And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.
  • 2 Chronicles 10:4 Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.
  • Jeremiah 27:11 But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.