ישעיהו, פרק ל׳, פסוק ל״א

The downfall of the mighty Assyrian empire does not occur on a traditional battlefield with weapons of war. Instead, their collapse is brought about by direct, vocal intervention from God. Assyria is broken entirely by the sound of God's voice, and His rebuke alone causes their shattering [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ, מצודת דוד]. This divine voice echoed exactly as the Israelites began to sing their holiday songs. The sound itself was enough to terrify and break the Assyrian camp before a single physical blow was dealt [מלבי"ם]. According to rabbinic tradition, this intervention took a unique form: God opened the ears of the Assyrian soldiers, allowing them to hear the song of the holy heavenly creatures. The sheer, overwhelming intensity of this heavenly sound is what ultimately killed them [רש"י].

The imagery of a striking rod further illustrates this downfall, though commentators offer different perspectives on who holds the weapon. One approach suggests that the rod remains firmly in God's hand. He uses it to strike Assyria, crushing the empire completely [אבן עזרא, רד"ק, מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Conversely, another perspective views the rod as a symbol of Assyria itself. The empire, which was so accustomed to striking the Israelites with its own rod, is now the one being broken [רש"י, רד"ק]. Building on this idea, the description implies that Assyria once served as the very rod God used to strike others, but now, that instrument of punishment is finally snapped in half [שד"ל].