Isaiah 10:4 (KJV)

What does Isaiah 10:4 mean?

Isaiah 10:4 describes the disaster awaiting those who have used their power to harm vulnerable people. In the KJV, God says that without him they will be left among prisoners or among the dead, and that his anger has not yet ended.

The verse answers the question in verse 3 about where the powerful will turn when trouble arrives. The picture of God’s hand “stretched out still” portrays his judgment as continuing rather than finished.

The Hebrew behind Isaiah 10:4

• “anger” — אַף (ʾaph): The word often means anger and can also refer to the nose. The image is associated with the visible signs of anger, such as flaring nostrils.
• “hand” — יָד (yad): The word means hand and can also suggest power or action. Here, the outstretched hand pictures God actively dealing with the people, not merely feeling anger.

Why Isaiah 10:4 matters

• The warning is aimed at injustice by people with authority. Verses 1–2 speak of harmful laws and of taking from widows and fatherless children; verse 4 shows that those responsible will face disaster themselves.
• The repeated line about anger and the outstretched hand links this warning to earlier warnings in Isaiah 9:12, 17, and 21. Its return here gives the passage a continuing pattern: the disaster described in verse 4 is not presented as the end of God’s response.
• The phrase “Without me” makes the loss of God’s help central in the KJV’s wording. The powerful people who might expect protection are pictured instead among captives or the slain.