And the Lord of hosts shall raise up a scourge against him, according to the slaughter of Madian in the rock of Oreb, and his rod over the sea, and he shall lift it up in the way of Egypt.
וְעוֹרֵ֨ר עָלָ֜יו יְהוָ֤ה צְבָאוֹת֙ שׁ֔וֹט כְּמַכַּ֥ת מִדְיָ֖ן בְּצ֣וּר עוֹרֵ֑ב וּמַטֵּ֙הוּ֙ עַל־הַיָּ֔ם וּנְשָׂא֖וֹ בְּדֶ֥רֶךְ מִצְרָֽיִם׃
4 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Aquila states that His staff is over the sea, while Symmachus notes that His staff is over the path of Egypt. This serves to affirm the current prophecy: just as He once vanquished all with merely 300 men, without toil or arms, so it is now. Similarly, as He extended His staff over the sea and raised it toward Egypt, meaning they will traverse through you and enter Egypt, do not be afraid when you witness this.
They will fall, as he declares, due to the divine anger that has come upon them. The Israelites will not require any exertion to achieve this. Their defense will not come from their bows or the strength of their hands, nor from their military tactics, but rather from the hand of God, who strikes down and obliterates a haughty people, similar to the suffering endured by the Midianites. With the combined might of their army and the entire nation, they laid waste to nearly all of the land belonging to the Jews, instilling in them an overwhelming dread that compelled them to flee from their towns and villages, spending their nights in great fear atop the mountains. However, God intervened and delivered those in peril through Gideon, commanding a mere handful of soldiers.
Under the cover of darkness, they shattered jars, lit torches, and blew horns, creating chaos among the enemy ranks, resulting in disarray among the Midianites. God instilled fear within them; their troops became intertwined, and in the dark, unable to recognize friend from foe, they fought one another, devastating their own forces. Therefore, he states that a plague shall come upon them, akin to the plague of Midian in times of anguish. He refers to the time of distress when this occurred. Furthermore, he suggests that God would divert the wrath of the outsider elsewhere, indicating this by saying, His wrath will be directed toward the path of the sea, toward the way to Egypt. This was illustrated by Theglaphalassar, the king of Assyria, who seized Samaria, imposing tribute on its inhabitants and collecting taxes from those ruling in Israel at the time. Yet, when circumstances shifted and Hosea son of Elah took control of Samaria, he refrained from sending tribute to the Assyrian king Menai, as it is recorded. Upon realizing that Hosea had incurred his wrath by this act, he sought assistance from an Egyptian army, should the one who had levied taxes against them decide to rise up against them in accordance with the laws of warfare. The Egyptian rulers of that era readily promised this aid. Offended by this, the Assyrian king marched against the Egyptians with his entire army, blaming them for Hosea's rebellion and the shedding of his yoke, finding grounds for such a bold action in their pledge of support. And that God would shift the fury of the foreigner, as stated earlier, is confirmed by the declaration, His wrath is against the path of the sea, against the direction of Egypt. For Jerusalem lies close to the sea, along the route leading to Egypt, and is still considered to be near the coast.
The Lord of Hosts will unleash a plague upon him, akin to the plague that befell Midian on Mount Horeb. This refers to the defeat of Midian, not during Gideon’s era, but earlier in the time of Moses at Horeb. He will raise His rod along the path of Egypt. He will raise His rod when the king of Assyria returns from Egypt; for Sennacherib had departed from the land of Judah to Egypt, and after securing victory there, as he journeyed back, he aimed to seize Jerusalem. However, upon witnessing the devastation of his armies, which had been vanquished by the angel, he was forced to retreat to Assyria.
Rather than a boulder, as Aquila interprets it from the Hebrew, Symmachus and Theodotion render the Hebrew term "sur oreb," while the Septuagint translates it as a place of sorrow, as will be discussed later. The inhabitant of Zion proclaims to you that it may seem unlikely that, while the neighboring nations are subdued by the Assyrians, you alone will be spared from their grasp. But listen to my words: do not fear, O my people, that the conquering Assyria will harm you as well.
For although in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, will approach all the fortified cities of Judah with intentions to conquer, and will send Rabsak to lay siege to Jerusalem, instilling fear in its residents, you should understand that he will not inflict wounds upon you with a sword but will threaten you with a rod. As he moves against Taraham, king of Ethiopia, and the Egyptians, making his way to the Red Sea en route to Egypt, he will simply raise a rod against you but will be unable to strike you down. After a brief time, when he returns from Egypt with a vast army intent on surrounding you, he will swiftly be met with My wrath, as I have summoned against him a scourge, akin to what was used against the Midianites under Gideon, who is also known as Jerobaal, when the princes of Midian, Oribe and Zib, were defeated upon a solid rock, referred to in Hebrew as "sur." Thus, from this rock and the king who fell there, the site received the name of the rock of Oribe. He will raise his staff over the Red Sea against the Ethiopians and again when he returns from Egypt; yet as soon as he emerges from that land, the burden and the yoke of his power will be lifted from you, and you shall no longer serve him. This yoke, symbolizing the power of Assyria, will decay from the grace of God. The phrases about him striking you with his rod and raising his staff in the way of Egypt can also signify that he will cause harm to many among the tribe of Judah and seize numerous towns surrounding the realm of Jerusalem, for they relied not on God but on the Egyptians. Therefore, Rabsak reproaches them, saying that they place their hope in this shattered reed of Israel, in Egypt, warning that anyone who leans on it will be injured: thus Pharaoh serves as a king to all who trust in him. The encounter with the Midianites is detailed in the book of Judges, where we read in the Psalm that their leaders were subdued, such as Oribe, Zibah, Zebeah, and Salman. Those who believe that this passage indicates the time when the Israelites defeated the Midianites from the wilderness of Sur to the mountain of God, Horeb, are mistaken. The Hebrews spell Horeb with different letters, for during that time they were not on Mount Horeb but in the wilderness of Shittim. In a deeper sense, the message urges the people in the Church not to be fearful of adversaries who are always ready to battle and have led many souls astray through their opposition. They had some influence over the people of God, not by killing them but by threatening them, as they followed the ways of Egypt and failed to trust in the Lord. Yet if one turns to God and abandons the path of Egypt, the scourge will be lifted against their foes by divine judgment, for "Midian" connotes judgment, enabling by the spirit of His mouth and the grace of mercy that the yoke of the enemies will be dissolved.
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS