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The Prophets · Old Testament

Isaiah 33

Isaiah 33: woe to the spoiler, the Lord rises, and Zion sees the king in his beauty

General context

The chapter opens with a woe to one who spoils without being spoiled and deals treacherously without being dealt with treacherously; when he stops, he will be spoiled and betrayed in turn. A prayer follows: be gracious, we have waited for thee, be their arm every morning. At the noise of the tumult the people fled and the nations were scattered, and spoil is gathered like caterpillars and locusts. The Lord is exalted and has filled Zion with judgment and righteousness; the fear of the Lord is his treasure. Valiant ones cry outside and ambassadors of peace weep; highways lie waste, the covenant is broken, and the land mourns from Lebanon to Sharon, Bashan and Carmel. Then the Lord says, now will I rise, now will I be exalted. The hearers will conceive chaff and bring forth stubble, and peoples will burn like lime. Sinners in Zion are afraid and ask who can dwell with devouring fire; the answer describes one who walks righteously, refuses bribes and shuts his eyes from evil, and who will dwell on high with bread given and waters sure. The hearer's eyes will see the king in his beauty and a land very far off, and will ask where the scribe and the counter of towers went; the fierce people of stammering tongue will not be seen. Zion is a quiet habitation, a tabernacle not taken down, where the Lord is broad rivers with no galley. The Lord is judge, lawgiver and king; the enemy's tacklings are loosed and the lame take the prey, and the inhabitant will not say I am sick, because the people are forgiven their iniquity.

Cited passages: Isaiah 33:1, Isaiah 33:2, Isaiah 33:3, Isaiah 33:4, Isaiah 33:5, Isaiah 33:6, Isaiah 33:7, Isaiah 33:8, Isaiah 33:9, Isaiah 33:10, Isaiah 33:11, Isaiah 33:12, Isaiah 33:13, Isaiah 33:14, Isaiah 33:15, Isaiah 33:16, Isaiah 33:17, Isaiah 33:18, Isaiah 33:19, Isaiah 33:20, Isaiah 33:21, Isaiah 33:22, Isaiah 33:23, Isaiah 33:24

Isaiah 33 (KJV)

1Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.

2O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

3At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.

4And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.

5The Lord is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.

6And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is his treasure.

7Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.

8The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.

9The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.

10Now will I rise, saith the Lord; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.

11Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.

12And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.

13Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.

14The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

15He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

16He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

17Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.

18Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?

19Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.

20Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.

21But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

22For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.

23Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.

24And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.

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Historical context

The spoiler addressed in verse 1 is not named; the text describes him only by his spoiling and treachery. The one who has broken the covenant, despised the cities and regards no man in verse 8 is also unnamed, and the text does not say which covenant is meant. The fierce people of a deeper speech and a stammering tongue in verse 19 are not identified as any nation. The king seen in his beauty in verse 17 is not named, and verse 22 then calls the Lord our king, so the text leaves open whether the same king is meant. The speakers change: verses 2 and 22 are a plural prayer and confession, verse 10 is the Lord speaking in the first person, and much of the chapter addresses a singular thou. Named places are Zion, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Sharon, Bashan and Carmel. The chapter is placed between the Egypt woes of chapters 30 and 31 and the narrative of chapter 36, in which a besieging king's messenger appears, but chapter 33 itself gives no date and names no king or army.

Cited passages: Isaiah 33:1, Isaiah 33:8, Isaiah 33:19, Isaiah 33:17, Isaiah 33:22, Isaiah 33:2, Isaiah 33:10, Isaiah 33:9, Isaiah 36:2

Literary context

The opening woe is a mirror: spoiling and treachery return on the one who did them, and the verse uses each word twice so the reversal is heard. The chapter then alternates between voices, a prayer of we, a report of the nations scattered, a hymn that the Lord is exalted, a lament over waste highways and a mourning land, and a first-person declaration with now said three times. Fire runs through the middle: the enemy's breath devours as fire, peoples burn like lime, and sinners in Zion ask who can dwell with devouring fire. The answer is a portrait built from verbs, walks, speaks, despises, shakes, stops, shuts, and it ends in the plainest provision, bread and water. The second half moves the addressee from fear to sight: thine eyes shall see the king, thine heart shall meditate terror only to find the scribe and tower-counter gone, look upon Zion. Ship images close the chapter twice, first denied to Zion's rivers and then applied to an unnamed thou whose tacklings are loosed, so that the lame take the prey. Waiting, we have waited for thee, continues the language of 25:9 and 26:8, and the confession that the Lord is judge, lawgiver and king answers the unnamed spoiler at the start.

Cited passages: Isaiah 33:1, Isaiah 33:2, Isaiah 33:5, Isaiah 33:10, Isaiah 33:11, Isaiah 33:14, Isaiah 33:15, Isaiah 33:16, Isaiah 33:18, Isaiah 33:20, Isaiah 33:21, Isaiah 33:23, Isaiah 26:8, Isaiah 33:22

Key moments

  1. Woe to the spoiler (Isaiah 33:1). The one who spoils and betrays will be spoiled and betrayed when he stops.
  2. Be our arm every morning (Isaiah 33:2). A plural prayer asks the Lord for grace after waiting for him.
  3. Ambassadors of peace weep (Isaiah 33:7). Valiant ones cry outside and the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
  4. Now will I rise (Isaiah 33:10). The Lord declares three times that he will now rise and be exalted.
  5. Who can dwell with the fire? (Isaiah 33:14). Sinners in Zion are afraid and ask who can live with devouring fire.
  6. The king in his beauty (Isaiah 33:17). The hearer's eyes will see the king and a land very far off.
  7. Judge, lawgiver, king (Isaiah 33:22). The people confess the Lord as judge, lawgiver and king who will save them.

For reflection

Sinners in Zion ask who can dwell with devouring fire, and the answer is not a hero but someone who refuses bribes and shuts his eyes from evil. What does the text imply about the kind of life that can stand near that fire?