Isaiah 50

General context

The Lord opens with questions: where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, and to which creditor did he sell you? He answers that they sold themselves for their iniquities and their mother was put away for their transgressions. He asks why no man was there when he came and none answered when he called, and whether his hand is too short to redeem, then says that at his rebuke he dries up the sea, turns rivers to wilderness where fish die of thirst, and clothes the heavens with blackness and sackcloth. A new voice then speaks in the first person. The Lord God has given him the tongue of the learned to speak a word in season to the weary, and wakens his ear morning by morning. His ear was opened and he was not rebellious. He gave his back to the smiters and his cheeks to those who plucked off the hair, and did not hide his face from shame and spitting. Because the Lord God will help him he has set his face like a flint and will not be ashamed. The one who justifies him is near, so he asks who will contend with him and who will condemn him; his opponents will wear out like a garment eaten by moths. The chapter closes by asking who among the hearers fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant while walking in darkness without light; such a one should trust in the Lord's name. Those who kindle their own fire and surround themselves with sparks are told to walk in that light, and that from the Lord's hand they will lie down in sorrow.

Cited passages: Isaiah 50:1, Isaiah 50:2, Isaiah 50:3, Isaiah 50:4, Isaiah 50:5, Isaiah 50:6, Isaiah 50:7, Isaiah 50:8, Isaiah 50:9, Isaiah 50:10, Isaiah 50:11

Isaiah 50 (KJV)

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Historical context

Three stretches of speech make up the chapter, and only the first is marked with a speaker. Verses 1 to 3 begin Thus saith the Lord. Verses 4 to 9 are spoken by an unnamed me who describes his own ear, tongue, back, cheeks and face; the text does not say who this is. Verse 10 refers to his servant in the third person, which is the only label the chapter attaches to the sufferer, and even that verse does not say outright that the servant is the speaker of verses 4 to 9. The chapter gives him no name. The mother who is put away is not named, and the children addressed as you are not named either, though the surrounding chapters address Zion and Jerusalem as a mother and Jacob as her people. The Lord states the cause plainly: they were sold for their iniquities, not because he lacked power or a creditor held him. The beating, hair-pulling and spitting are described by the sufferer himself, with no narrator confirming them and no setting, date or assailant given. The chapter names no place and no nation.

Cited passages: Isaiah 50:1, Isaiah 50:4, Isaiah 50:5, Isaiah 50:10, Isaiah 49:21, Isaiah 51:18, Isaiah 50:2, Isaiah 50:6

Literary context

The chapter is built on questions and on parts of the body. The Lord opens with a run of questions and answers them himself: no bill, no creditor, no man to answer, no shortness of hand. The sufferer then asks three of his own, who will contend with me, who is mine adversary, who is he that shall condemn me, and leaves them unanswered because he says the one who justifies him is near. The two sets of questions mirror each other. When the Lord came there was no man to answer him; when the sufferer calls his adversary to come near, no one comes. His speech is arranged by the body: tongue, ear, back, cheeks, face, and the face is mentioned twice, once not hidden from spitting and once set like a flint. The garment eaten by moths becomes an image the next chapter repeats twice. The close sets two kinds of light against each other: the one who walks in darkness and has no light is told to trust, while those who walk in the light of their own fire are told they will lie down in sorrow. That reversal, darkness with trust against light with sorrow, is the chapter's last word.

Cited passages: Isaiah 50:1, Isaiah 50:2, Isaiah 50:8, Isaiah 50:9, Isaiah 50:4, Isaiah 50:6, Isaiah 50:7, Isaiah 51:6, Isaiah 51:8, Isaiah 50:10, Isaiah 50:11

Key moments

1. Where is the bill of divorcement? (Isaiah 50:1). The Lord asks for the divorce paper and the creditor, then says the people sold themselves for their iniquities.
2. Is my hand shortened? (Isaiah 50:2). The Lord asks why no one answered when he came and says he can dry up the sea.
3. An ear wakened every morning (Isaiah 50:4). The speaker says the Lord God gave him a learned tongue and wakens his ear morning by morning.
4. Back given to the smiters (Isaiah 50:6). The speaker describes being beaten, having hair plucked, and enduring shame and spitting.
5. Face set like a flint (Isaiah 50:7). Because the Lord God will help him, the speaker says he will not be ashamed.
6. Who will contend with me? (Isaiah 50:8). The speaker says his justifier is near and calls any adversary to come forward.
7. Two kinds of light (Isaiah 50:11). Those who kindle their own fire are told to walk in it and that they will lie down in sorrow.

For reflection

The chapter commends the one who walks in darkness and has no light yet trusts, and warns those who walk by the light of a fire they kindled themselves. How would a person know which of those two lights they are walking by?