Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.
Shall the ax boast? ... - Shall the instrument boast against Him who uses it? Though free in a sense, and carrying out his own plans, the Assyrian was unconsciously carrying out God's purposes. Shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? - moves it backward and forward.
As if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood - rather, 'as if the staff (man, the instrument of God's judgments on his fellow-man) should lift up (Him who is) not wood' (not a mere instrument, as man). In the literal sense the not-wood is man, as the staff is his instrument. In the parabolic sense God stands in the same relation to man (for instance, the Assyrian) that man does to the staff. On "no wood," cf. Deuteronomy 32:21, "that which is not God;" Isaiah 31:8, "Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of ... man," shows that God is meant here by 'not wood' (Maurer).