Isaiah 9:4

For their oppressive yoke and the club that strikes their shoulders, the cudgel the oppressor uses on them, ¹  you have shattered, as in the day of Midian’s defeat. ² 

Ge 27:40; Le 26:13; Jud 6:1-6; Jud 7:22-25; Jud 8:10-12; Ps 83:9-11; Ps 125:3; Isa 10:5,27; Isa 10:26; Isa 14:3-5; Isa 14:25; Isa 30:31,32; Isa 47:6; Jer 30:8; Na 1:13

¹ tn Heb “for the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the scepter of the oppressor against him.” The singular pronouns are collective, referring to the people. The oppressed nation is compared to an ox weighed down by a heavy yoke and an animal that is prodded and beaten.

² sn This alludes to Gideon’s victory over Midian (Judg 7-8), when the Lord delivered Israel from an oppressive foreign invader.