Isaiah 10:14 - Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Bible Comments

And my hand hath found, as a nest - By a beautiful and striking figure here, the Assyrian monarch is represented as describing the ease with which he had subdued kingdoms, and rifled them of their treasures. No resistance had been offered. He had taken them with as little opposition as a rustic takes possession of a nest, with its eggs or young, when the parent bird is away.

Eggs that are left - That is, eggs that are left of the parent bird; when the bird from fright, or any other cause, has gone, and when no resistance is offered.

Have I gathered all the earth - That is, I have subdued and plundered it. This shows the height of his self-confidence and his arrogant assumptions.

That moved the wing - Keeping up the figure of the nest. There was none that offered resistance; as an angry bird does when her nest is about to be robbed.

Or opened the mouth - To make a noise in alarm. The dread of him produced perfect silence and submission.

Or peeped - Or that chirped - the noise made by young birds; the note at Isaiah 8:19. The idea is, that such was the dread of his name and power that there was universal silence. None dared to resist the terror of his arms.

Isaiah 10:14

14 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.