Isaiah 6:12-13 · Bible study
Isaiah 6:12-13 Commentary: Judgment, Stump, and Holy Seed
Hebrew · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
What does the removal of men and the stump of a tree teach about God's judgment and the remnant?
Research Summary
- Meaning: Judgment will strip Israel down to a remnant, a holy seed like a tree’s living stump, from which God will rebuild His people.
- Key words: Richak (send far away, exile), azuvah (forsaken places), asiriyah (tenth/remnant), shalekhet (felling), matzevet (stump), zera qodesh (holy seed).
- Main debate: Whether the “tenth” means a literal tenth of the population, a reference to ten future kings of Judah, or a figurative remnant.
- Theological theme: The remnant doctrine: God’s judgment is severe, but He always preserves a faithful seed to carry forward His covenant promises.
- Best use: Preaching or teaching on hope in the midst of judgment; connecting to New Testament themes of the remnant (Romans 11) and the shoot from Jesse (Isaiah 11).
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
12until the LORD has driven men far away and the land is utterly forsaken.
13And though a tenth remains in the land, it will be burned again. As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when felled, so the holy seed will be a stump in the land.”
WEB World English Bible 2000
12and Yahweh has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many within the land.
13If there is a tenth left in it, that also will in turn be consumed, as a terebinth, and as an oak whose stump remains when they are cut down, so the holy seed is its stump.”
KJV King James Version 1769
12And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
13But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
12and Jehovah have removed men far away, and the forsaken places be many in the midst of the land.
13And if there be yet a tenth in it, it also shall in turn be eaten up: as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stock remaineth, when they are felled; so the holy seed is the stock thereof.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
12And Jehovah hath put man far off, And great is the forsaken part in the heart of the land.
13And yet in it a tenth, and it hath turned, And hath been for a burning, As a teil-tree, and as an oak, that in falling, Have substance in them, The holy seed is its substance!'
Darby Darby Bible 1890
12and Jehovah have removed men far away, and the solitude be great in the midst of the land.
13But a tenth part shall still be therein, and it shall return and be eaten; as the terebinth and as the oak whose trunk [remaineth] after the felling: the holy seed shall be the trunk thereof.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
12And the Lord shall remove men far away, and she shall be multiplied that was left in the midst of the earth.
13And there shall be still a tithing therein, and she shall turn, and shall be made a show as a turpentine tree, and as an oak that spreadeth its branches: that which shall stand therein, shall be a holy seed.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Isaiah 6:12
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that these verses describe a judgment both severe and purposeful. God answers Isaiah’s question “how long?” (v.11) by declaring that the land will be emptied of its inhabitants and left desolate. Barnes notes this as a “great desolation,” citing parallel passages like Jeremiah 4:29. Calvin emphasizes that the removal of men “far away” refers to exile, a punishment that spares no one.
Yet the judgment is not the final word. The image of the terebinth and oak, trees that send up new shoots from their stumps after being felled, carries the central promise: a “holy seed” remains. Keil and Delitzsch highlight the two-stage process: first the land is laid waste, then even what remains (a tenth) is “given up to destruction” like a tree cut down. But the stump still holds life. This is the remnant, the holy seed. The Cambridge Bible notes that while the LXX omits the final clause, the usual interpretation rightly sees here the germ of Isaiah’s doctrine of the remnant, later embodied in his son Shear-jashub. Matthew Henry sums it up: the holy seed is “the support of the land,” preventing final rooting out.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Ten kings reading: Points to the word 'tenth' as a count of ten kings from Uzziah to Zedekiah; supported by Jarchi, Kimchi, and noted by Calvin and Gill.
- Literal remnant after exile: The 'tenth' is a small surviving group after Babylon captures Jerusalem; supported by Barnes, Clarke, and the historical reference in 2 Kings 25.
- Two-stage judgment: The first destruction is the exile; the second (return and burning) refers to later sifting, possibly under Rome; supported by Wesley and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown.
- Stump as holy seed: The passage promises a faithful remnant will survive and carry God’s purpose forward; all major traditions affirm this core.
What is clear: God’s judgment on sin is severe and will reduce the nation to a stump, but that stump is a holy seed—a remnant through whom God will fulfill His covenant promises.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Identity of the tenth | All traditions agree the 'tenth' represents a small surviving remnant after the initial judgment of exile or destruction. | Some (Jarchi, Kimchi, and Calvin notes the view) interpret it as ten kings from Uzziah to Zedekiah, meaning the judgment will come after that line ends. Others (Barnes, Keil and Delitzsch) take it as a figurative fraction, not a count of kings. |
| Originality of the last clause (holy seed) | Most Christian commentators accept the final clause 'a holy seed is its stump' as original and integral to the meaning. | The Cambridge Bible notes that the LXX lacks this clause, leading some to suspect a later addition. However, the clause appears in all Hebrew manuscripts and fits the context of a remnant. |
| Extent of the judgment: one event or multiple waves | All agree that the judgment is severe, involving both deportation and further destruction of any survivors. | Some (Clarke, Wesley) see multiple historical fulfillments: Babylonian exile, then Roman destruction, then later persecutions. Others (Barnes, Calvin) focus on the Babylonian exile as the primary referent, with the second 'burning' applying to post-exilic troubles or the final sifting. |
| Meaning of the stump: positive or negative image | The stump symbolizes something that remains after destruction. | Most see it positively: the stump holds life and will sprout again (the holy seed). A minority reading (noted by Cambridge Bible as possible if the last clause is omitted) takes the stump as something still to be burned: final destruction. But the consensus favors the positive interpretation. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Isaiah receives this vision in the year King Uzziah died (6:1), a moment of political transition and national uncertainty. The surrounding chapters describe a people who are religiously busy but morally corrupt; God’s call to Isaiah includes a commission to harden an already stubborn nation. When Isaiah asks “how long?” this judgment will last, God answers with a description of total devastation.
The vocabulary is precise. The verb richak (Hiphil of rachaq) means “to send far away,” a strong term for exile. The noun azuvah comes from a root meaning “to forsake”; it describes abandoned towns and fields (compare Isaiah 17:2; Jeremiah 4:29). Together they picture a land emptied by war and deportation. The “tenth” (asiriyah) is a fraction that survives the first blow, but it too is marked for burning.
The tree imagery draws on Palestine’s landscape. Terebinths and oaks are hardwood trees that, when cut down, sprout again from their stumps. The phrase shalekhet (“felling”) is rare, occurring only here. The stump (matzevet) retains the life principle; it is not a dead remnant but a living root. The “holy seed” (zera qodesh) echoes the language of Ezra 9:2 and points to a purified people set apart for God. This is not simply a survival, it is a new beginning, like the shoot from Jesse’s stump in Isaiah 11:1.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note one significant textual issue. The final clause, “the holy seed is its stump,” is absent in the Septuagint (LXX). The Cambridge Bible mentions that without it the verse could be read as a sentence of final rejection. However, the clause appears in all extant Hebrew manuscripts and is preserved in the Masoretic Text. Commentators who address the variant (Keil and Delitzsch, Cambridge Bible) generally accept it as original, seeing it as consistent with Isaiah’s developing remnant theology. The LXX omission may be due to scribal error or interpretive abbreviation.
Reception History
Jewish tradition, represented in the Targum, interpreted the “tenth” as righteous persons, a faithful remnant. Medieval Jewish commentators like Jarchi and Kimchi explored the ten‑kings reading as a way of marking time from the prophecy to the fall of Jerusalem. Early Christian writers saw this passage as a prophecy of the Jewish rejection and the preservation of a spiritual remnant, later identified with the church. The Reformation commentators (Calvin, Geneva Bible, Matthew Henry) emphasized the doctrine of an elect remnant: not all physical Israel, but a holy seed chosen by grace. Modern scholarship (Keil and Delitzsch, Cambridge Bible) reads it as the foundation of Isaiah’s signature theme of the remnant, which reappears in the name of his son Shear‑jashub and in the shoot from Jesse (Isaiah 11). The image of the stump as a living root that will bear new life has been sung in hymns of hope and preached as a symbol of God’s covenant faithfulness across centuries.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Judgment is thorough. The land is emptied, the people removed. God’s holiness cannot tolerate rebellion forever.
- Judgment is purposeful. Even the surviving tenth is sifted again. The burning strips away everything that is not holy.
- Judgment is not the final word. The stump holds a holy seed. God preserves a remnant, not out of human merit but by His own choice.
Five-point outline
- The extent of judgment: Yahweh removes men far away; the land is full of forsaken places.
- The duration of judgment: It continues until the condition of desolation is complete.
- The survival of a tenth: A small remnant remains after the first destruction.
- The second sifting: Even that tenth returns and is given over to burning.
- The holy seed: The stump of a felled tree still contains life. That life is the holy seed, God’s faithful people.
Illustration hooks
- A forest fire sweeps through, leaving only charred stumps. A year later, green shoots emerge from those stumps. The tree is not gone; its life is hidden but waiting.
- A city is evacuated after a flood. Most neighborhood streets are empty. But one family returns and begins to rebuild. The place of ruin holds a future.
- A manuscript is burned, but a single page survives. Scholars can reconstruct the whole work from that page. The remnant carries the full story.
Questions your congregation is asking
- “Does God ever give up on His people completely?”
- “What is the holy seed, and how do I know if I am part of it?”
- “How do we hold onto hope when judgment or hardship seems to strip everything away?”
Leading a Discussion
This passage sits at the end of Isaiah’s call vision. God has just given him the painful task of preaching to a people who will not listen. When the prophet asks “how long?” God answers with a picture of destruction. But He also gives a promise: a stump remains, and that stump is a holy seed. As you guide your group, help them sit with the tension between judgment and hope.
Discussion questions
- What does the removal of people “far away” and the “forsaken places” tell us about the seriousness of Israel’s sin?
- Why does God say that even a tenth will be given over to burning? What purpose might a second sifting serve?
- The terebinth and oak keep their stump when felled. What does the stump represent? What does it mean that the holy seed is the stump?
- How does this passage connect to the name of Isaiah’s son, Shear-jashub (“a remnant shall return”)?
- In Romans 11, Paul uses the image of an olive tree to speak of Jews and Gentiles in God’s plan. How does Isaiah 6:12-13 lay a foundation for that teaching?
- When have you seen God preserve a “stump” in a situation that seemed hopeless? What did that look like?
- How does knowing that God always leaves a holy seed shape your prayer for your own community or nation?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Deuteronomy 28:64 | Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. |
| II Kings 25:11 | Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the rest of the people who were left in the city and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon—all the rest of the multitude. |
| II Kings 25:21 | The king of Babylon attacked them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land. |
| Isaiah 26:15 | You have increased the nation, O Yahweh. You have increased the nation! You are glorified! You have enlarged all the borders of the land. |
| Jeremiah 4:29 | Every city flees for the noise of the horsemen and archers. They go into the thickets and climb up on the rocks. Every city is forsaken, and not a man dwells therein. |
| Jeremiah 12:7 | “I have forsaken my house. I have cast off my heritage. I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. |
| Jeremiah 15:4 | I will cause them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem. |
| Jeremiah 52:28 | This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, three thousand twenty-three Jews; |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke identifies the tenth not as a single historical remnant but as a recurring pattern across Israel's history. He points to the Babylonian and Roman devastations and subsequent regrowths, arguing the verse describes God preserving a surviving stock through repeated near-extinctions, from which he will eventually restore his people.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes focuses on the metaphor of the terebinth or oak: though the tree falls and casts its leaves, the life remains in the root or stem. For him this shows the Jewish remnant survived destruction not by escaping punishment, but by retaining a hidden vitality that would eventually spring up again.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin favors the interpretation that the "tenth" in this passage refers to a sequence of ten kings, from Uzziah to Zedekiah, whose reigns would end in captivity. For him, this reading strengthens the case that Isaiah's prophecy was divinely accurate, since the prophet could specify the number of kings who would rule long after his own death.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentary highlights a tension in interpreting the felled tree with its stump. If the final line about a holy seed is omitted, the verse speaks of total destruction. But the usual reading, which the commentator supports, sees the stump containing an indestructible germ of life, pointing to Isaiah's doctrine of a faithful remnant preserved within the ruined nation.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Notes emphasize that God's judgment leaves the land desolate, but a tenth remains like a tree that has shed its leaves yet still holds living substance. That enduring core is the holy seed, which preserves the nation's hope through devastation.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill argues this prophecy refers to the Roman destruction, not the Babylonian captivity. The tenth is the elect remnant, the "holy seed," that preserves the Jewish people as a distinct nation through centuries of dispersion until their eventual conversion. Their continued existence, though stripped of glory, is itself the substance that remains.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch see the holy seed as a root-stump left after Israel is felled like a terebinth. From that remnant, not from the nation as a whole, a new and holy Israel will grow. This law of blessing hidden within judgment, they argue, still governs Jewish history.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues Isaiah placed chapter 6 not at the start of his book but as the third and most sacred entrance, after chapters 1-5 prepared the reader. He insists this is no second call to a special mission; the prophet’s bold, immediate offer to serve would seem unbelievable without the earlier material.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry emphasises that God sends Isaiah on an unusual mission: his preaching itself becomes a judgment that hardens the people's hearts. This spiritual blindness, often unnoticed, is the most dreadful judgment of all, and it prefigures how many would later reject Christ and the gospel.