Isaiah 37:27Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

In my patience, I previously sustained them, allowing them to thrive and survive, but now I have withdrawn my aid, causing them to wither like plants and to become lifeless like hay, destined for the flames. Similarly, another passage conveys the message: when the wicked completed what was ordained by God and held himself in high regard, he again heard the Lord say, 'How can the axe boast without the one who wields it? Or how can the saw be exalted without the one who uses it? Just as these tools cannot operate independently to achieve a task but await the hand that directs them, so you, he declares, are merely an instrument of divine judgment; you have not achieved these deeds on your own but have acted as an axe or a saw, designated to fulfill the will of the One who drives you.

This should be understood as a pronouncement from God against the reproaches of the Assyrian, indicating that to his blasphemous claims, the Lord responds, “Did I not intend this, and did I not foretell that it would come to pass, commanding that it be enacted through you? Now, in this present time, the event I previously predetermined has come to fruition—that the mountains, referring to the rulers who once battled among themselves, and the fortified cities, will be laid waste when I withdraw My assistance.” They trembled and were destroyed, unable to be like fruitful olive and vine trees but instead becoming like the dried grass and shoots on roofs, which are a burden to the fruitful growth and perish before ripening.

Therefore, I was aware in advance of your dwelling, your movements, and the frenzy with which you have raged against Me. I foretold this through the prophets who knew that one day you would declare: “I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God, I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend to the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13-14). Your wrath and arrogance have reached My ears, and I can no longer endure you, so that you may understand that whatever was possible for you happened through My will, not your own strength. Indeed, wicked nations and unfruitful trees deserve to be removed, falling by My hand like an axe and saw. Thus, I will restrain your blasphemous utterances by placing a ring in your nostrils, constraining your insidious speech so you will not dare to utter such words again, and I will control your fierce tongue and drive you back to Assyria. Scripture similarly portrays this imagery in the Psalms against the wicked: With reins and bridles, You will gird their jaws, those who do not approach You (Psalm 31:9).