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Isaiah 33

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Woe to the Spoiler and a Prayer for Help 1–6

1
Woe to thee that destroyest, and thou wast not destroyed; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! When thou hast ceased to destroy, thou shalt be destroyed; and when thou hast made an end of dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee. ​
2
O Jehovah, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou our arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. ​
3
At the noise of the tumult the peoples are fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations are scattered.
4
And your spoil shall be gathered as the caterpillar gathereth: as locusts leap shall men leap upon it.
5
Jehovah is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6
And there shall be stability in thy times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of Jehovah is thy treasure. ​

Despair and God's Promise of Judgment 7–12

7
Behold, their valiant ones cry without; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly. ​
8
The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: the enemy hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth not man.
9
The land mourneth and languisheth; Lebanon is confounded and withereth away; Sharon is like a desert; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
10
Now will I arise, saith Jehovah; now will I lift up myself; now will I be exalted. ​
11
Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath is a fire that shall devour you. ​
12
And the peoples shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.

Who Can Endure God's Consuming Fire? 13–16

13
Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. ​
14
The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling hath seized the godless ones: Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire? who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings? ​
15
He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from taking a bribe, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from looking upon evil: ​
16
He shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks; his bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

The Future Glory and Security of Zion 17–24

17
Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold a land that reacheth afar. ​
18
Thy heart shall muse on the terror: Where is he that counted, where is he that weighed the tribute? where is he that counted the towers? ​
19
Thou shalt not see the fierce people, a people of a deep speech that thou canst not comprehend, of a strange tongue that thou canst not understand. ​
20
Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be removed, the stakes whereof shall never be plucked up, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. ​
21
But there Jehovah will be with us in majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams, wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. ​
22
For Jehovah is our judge, Jehovah is our lawgiver, Jehovah is our king; he will save us. ​
23
Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not strengthen the foot of their mast, they could not spread the sail: then was the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame took the prey. ​
24
And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Isaiah 33

Verse 1

thou shalt be spoiled — Shadad, to spoil, and bagad, to deal treacherously (the verb of 24:16), are turned back on the spoiler, who is not named. 'Cease' (tamam) and 'make an end' (nalah) both mean to complete: when the spoiling is finished, the spoiler's turn comes, as in Hab 2:8, 'thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee'.

Verse 2

we have waited for thee — Chanan, 'be gracious', is the plea, and qavah, 'waited', is the verb of Isa 25:9, 'we have waited for him'. The prayer asks that the LORD be 'their arm every morning', the arm (zeroa) of the people, 'our salvation also in the time of trouble'. The mercies that are 'new every morning' (Lam 3:23) use the same word for morning.

Verse 6

the fear of the LORD is his treasure — 'Stability' is emunah, firmness or faithfulness; 'strength' is chosen, wealth or store; 'treasure' is otsar. 'Wisdom and knowledge' recall the Spirit's gifts in Isa 11:2, 'knowledge and of the fear of the LORD', and 'the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge' (Prov 1:7). The fear of the LORD is named as the store itself.

Verse 7

the ambassadors of peace — Erel, 'valiant ones', is found only here, and the messengers (malak) of shalom 'weep bitterly'. Hezekiah, who sent tribute to Assyria at Lachish (2 Kgs 18:14), had envoys of this kind, and Isa 36:22 shows his officers coming to him 'with their clothes rent'. The valiant cry 'without', out of doors.

Verse 10

Now will I rise — Three verbs, each with 'now': qum, to rise, ramam, to be exalted, and nasa, to lift up. Nasa is the 'lifted up' of the Lord on his throne in Isa 6:1, and it returns in v.24, where the people are 'forgiven' (literally, their iniquity is lifted away). 'Now will I arise' is also the LORD's word for the poor in Ps 12:5.

Verse 11

conceive chaff — The figure of childbirth, harah, to conceive, and yalad, to bring forth, is used of plans that come to nothing: 'chaff' (chashash), 'stubble' (qash). Elsewhere it is used of sin, 'he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood' (Ps 7:14). The 'breath' (ruach) of the doomed 'as fire' consumes its own makers.

Verse 13

Hear, ye that are far off — Rachoq, far, and qarob, near, name the two audiences: those at a distance and those at hand are told to 'acknowledge my might' (gevurah). The pair is Isa 57:19's, and Paul uses it of Gentile and Jew, 'peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh' (Eph 2:17).

Verse 14

the devouring fire — 'Hypocrites' is chaneph, the polluted or impious, from the root of 'defiled' in 24:5. 'Fearfulness' (raad) 'hath surprised' (achaz, seized) them. The question, 'who… shall dwell' (gur), is the question of Ps 15:1, 'who shall abide in thy tabernacle?'; 'our God is a consuming fire' (Heb 12:29).

Verse 15

He that walketh righteously — The answer to v.14 gives six marks: walks in righteousness, speaks uprightly, despises 'the gain of oppressions', shakes the hands from bribes (shachad), stops the ears from hearing of blood, shuts the eyes from evil. It follows Ps 15:2, 'He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart'.

Verse 17

the king in his beauty — Yophi, beauty, is said of the king, and the eyes that 'see' (chazah, behold) belong to the one who passed the test of vv.14–15. The 'land that is very far off' is literally 'a land of far distances' (merchaqim). v.22 names the king, 'the LORD is our king', and Zech 9:17 uses the same word, 'how great is his beauty!'

Verse 18

Where is the scribe? — 'Meditate' is hagah, the verb of the lion's 'roaring' in 31:4. The three officials count, weigh and survey: the scribe (sapar, who counts), the 'receiver' (shaqal, literally one who weighs out) and the one who 'counted the towers'. Paul asks the same question of the world's learning, 'Where is the wise? where is the scribe?' (1 Cor 1:20).

Verse 19

a people of a deeper speech — Amoq is deep, and saphah the lip, so their speech is too deep to follow; 'stammering' is laag. The Law had foretold such a people: 'a nation… whose tongue thou shalt not understand' (Deut 28:49). At the wall the Rabshakeh spoke in 'the Jews' language' (Isa 36:11), which Judah's officers had asked him not to do.

Verse 20

a tabernacle that shall not be taken down — 'Solemnities' are the moed, the appointed feasts. Every part of the tent is secured: it will not be 'taken down' (tsaan, to move on), its stakes (yated) will not 'be removed' for ever (netsach), its cords (chebel) will not be 'broken'. Isa 54:2 gives the same picture of growth, 'lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes'.

Verse 21

broad rivers and streams — Jerusalem has no great river, so the LORD is the river: 'There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God' (Ps 46:4; cf. Rev 22:1). 'Glorious' and 'gallant' are the same word, addir: the glorious LORD, and so no 'gallant ship' (tsi addir), no 'galley with oars', can pass. Yeor, 'streams', is a loanword for the channels of Egypt.

Verse 22

the LORD is our judge — Three offices: judge (shaphat), lawgiver (chaqaq, to decree or engrave) and king (melek), and the verse ends 'he will save us' (yasha). James joins two of them, 'There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy' (Jas 4:12). Acts 5:31 calls the exalted Christ 'a Prince and a Saviour'.

Verse 23

Thy tacklings are loosed — The ship of the foe in v.21 is disabled: 'tacklings' (chebel) slack, the mast (toren) not held fast, the sail (nes, elsewhere a banner) not spread; some read the ship as Judah's own. The spoil is 'divided', and 'the lame' (pisseach) take it, as the lepers did at the abandoned camp (2 Kgs 7:8) and as God chooses 'the foolish things' (1 Cor 1:27).

Verse 24

I am sick — Chalah, to be sick, is paired with iniquity: the people are 'forgiven' (nasa, to lift or bear), the verb of 53:4, 'he hath borne our griefs', and of 53:12, 'he bare the sin of many'. Sickness and sin are named together in Ps 103:3, 'Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases'.