Behold, the Lord GOD of hosts will lop the boughs with terrifying power; the great in height will be hewn down, and the lofty will be brought low.
The prophet, in his preaching, distinguishes between the precious and the vile; for God in his providence, even in the same providence, does so. He speaks terror, in Sennacherib's invasion, to the hypocrites, who were the people of God's wrath, Isa 10:6. But here he speaks comfort to the sincere, who were the people of God's love.
Commenting on Isaiah 10:24-34
And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron,.... The multitude of the common soldiers, the whole body of the army, by means of one of his angels, that excel in strength, for which he is compared to "iron"; and which is explained in the next clause: and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one; the Assyrian army is compared to the...
bough--literally, the "beauty" of the tree; "the beautiful branch." high ones of stature--"the upright stem," as distinguished from the previous "boughs" [HORSLEY].