Your rigging is untied. They couldn’t strengthen the foot of their mast. They couldn’t spread the sail. Then the prey of a great plunder was divided. The lame took the prey.
Parallel Translations
-
Your rigging is untied. They couldn’t strengthen the foot of their mast. They couldn’t spread the sail. Then the prey of a great plunder was divided. The lame took the prey.
-
Thy 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.
-
Thy tacklings are loosed; they do not hold the stand of their mast, they do not spread the sail; then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Isaiah 33:23 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Kings 7:8 When these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drank, and carried away silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid it. Then they came back, and entered into another tent, and carried things from there also, and went and hid them.
- Psalms 68:12 “Kings of armies flee! They flee!” She who waits at home divides the plunder,
- 1 Corinthians 1:27 but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world that he might put to shame the things that are strong.
- 1 Samuel 30:10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so faint that they couldn’t go over the brook Besor.
- 1 Samuel 30:22-24 Then all the wicked men and worthless fellows, of those who went with David, answered and said, “Because they didn’t go with us, we will not give them anything of the plunder that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that he may lead them away, and depart.” Then David said, “Do not do so, my brothers, with that which Yahweh has given to us, who has preserved us, and delivered the troop that came against us into our hand. Who will listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays with the baggage. They shall share alike.”
- 2 Kings 7:16 The people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to Yahweh’s word.
- 2 Chronicles 20:25 When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their plunder, they found among them in abundance both riches and dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away. They took plunder for three days, it was so much.
- Isaiah 33:1 Woe to you who destroy, but you weren’t destroyed, and who betray, but nobody betrayed you! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed; and when you have finished betrayal, you will be betrayed.
- Isaiah 33:4 Your plunder will be gathered as the caterpillar gathers. Men will leap on it as locusts leap.
- Isaiah 33:21 But there Yahweh will be with us in majesty, a place of wide rivers and streams, in which no galley with oars will go, neither will any gallant ship pass by there.
- Ezekiel 27:26-34 Your rowers have brought you into great waters. The east wind has broken you in the heart of the seas. Your riches, your wares, your merchandise, your mariners, your pilots, your repairers of ship seams, the dealers in your merchandise, and all your men of war, who are in you, with all your company which is among you, will fall into the heart of the seas in the day of your ruin. At the sound of the cry of your pilots, the pasture lands will shake. All who handle the oars, the mariners and all the pilots of the sea, will come down from their ships. They will stand on the land, and will cause their voice to be heard over you, and will cry bitterly. They will cast up dust on their heads. They will wallow in the ashes. They will make themselves bald for you, and clothe themselves with sackcloth. They will weep for you in bitterness of soul, with bitter mourning. In their wailing they will take up a lamentation for you, and lament over you, saying, ‘Who is there like Tyre, like her who is brought to silence in the middle of the sea?’ When your wares went out of the seas, you filled many peoples. You enriched the kings of the earth with the multitude of your riches and of your merchandise. In the time that you were broken by the seas, in the depths of the waters, your merchandise and all your company fell within you.
- Acts 27:19 On the third day, they threw out the ship’s tackle with their own hands.
- Acts 27:30-32 As the sailors were trying to flee out of the ship, and had lowered the boat into the sea, pretending that they would lay out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these stay in the ship, you can’t be saved.” Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat, and let it fall off.
- Acts 27:40-41 Casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time untying the rudder ropes. Hoisting up the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach. But coming to a place where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground. The bow struck and remained immovable, but the stern began to break up by the violence of the waves.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He derideth the Assyrians and enemies of the Church,…
He derideth the Assyrians and enemies of the Church, declaring their destruction as they that perish by shipwreck.
He comforteth the Church, and showeth that they shall be enriched with all benefits both of body and soul.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 33:23 Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not…
Isa 33:23 Thy 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.
Ver. 23. Thy tacklings are loosed.] Thy shipping, O Assyrian, is wrecked and dissipated. Ubi per furies tentoria; per vela, vexilla intelliguntur. The prophet elegantly expresseth the matter in seamen’s terms.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Thy tacklings are loosed; he directeth his speech to…
Thy tacklings are loosed; he directeth his speech to the Assyrians; and having tacitly designed their army under the notion of a gallant ship, Isa 33:21, he here represents their broken and undone condition by the metaphor of a ship tossed in a tempestuous sea, having her cables broken, and all her tacklings loose, and out of order, so as she could have no benefit of her masts and sails; and therefore is quickly broken or swallowed up by the sea.
They; the Assyrians, of whom he still speaks, as in the first clause he spake to them.
Read full note →
Then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey; they who came to spoil and prey upon my people shall become a prey to them, and shall be forced to flee away so suddenly, that they shall leave so many spoils behind them, that when strong and active men have carried away all that they desired, there shall be enough left for the lame, who come last to the spoil. The general sense of the place is, that God’s people shall be victorious over all their enemies.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Thy tacklings are loosed,.... Or "are left" (h); forsaken…
Thy tacklings are loosed,.... Or "are left" (h); forsaken by the mariners, as being of no use and service:
they could not well strengthen their mast; with ropes to make it stand upright:
Read full note →
they could not spread the sail; upon the mast, without which they could not proceed. This is spoken to and of the enemies of the church; most interpreters understand it of the Assyrians, who are compared to a ship in great distress at sea, when its tacklings are shattered, the mast is split, and the sails cannot be spread. The metaphor is taken and carried on from Isa 33:21, where mention is made of a galley with oars, and a gallant ship. Tyrannical governments are thought by some to be compared to ships; a king to the mast; princes to ropes, cords, and tackling; and their army in battle array to sails spread; but here all is in confusion, distress, and unavoidable ruin: this may very well be applied to the antichristian states, when the vials of God's wrath shall be poured out upon them; especially when the second vial shall be poured out upon the sea, and all shipping will suffer, as under the second trumpet the third part of ships were destroyed, there being a correspondence between the trumpets and the seals, Rev 8:8,
then is the prey of a great spoil divided: as the spoil of the Assyrian camp was by the Israelites, so will the spoil of the Papists by the Protestants; particularly when the kings of the earth shall be filled with an aversion to the whore of Rome, and shall destroy her, and make her bare and desolate of all her riches, and shall "eat her flesh", or seize upon her substance, which will become the prey of a great spoil unto them:
the lame take the prey; which denotes both how easily it shall be taken, and what a plenty there shall be, that even such, and who come late, shall have a share in it. The Targum of the whole is,
"at that time (when vengeance shall be taken on Gog) the people shall be broken with their own strength, and they shall be like to a ship whose ropes are broken; and there is no strength in their mast, which is cut down, that it is not possible to spread a sail on it; then shall the house of Israel divide the substance of the people, the multitude of a prey and spoil; and although the blind and the lame are left among them, they also shall divide the multitude of the prey and spoil.''
(h) So the word is interpreted by Kimchi and Ben Melech.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Tacklings - He directs his speech to the Assyrians;…
Tacklings - He directs his speech to the Assyrians; and having designed their army under the notion of a gallant ship, ver. 21, he here represents their undone condition, by the metaphor of a ship, tossed in a tempestuous sea, having her cables broke, and all her tacklings loose, so that she could have no benefit of her masts and sails; and therefore is quickly swallowed up. The lame - They shall leave so many spoils behind them, that there shall be enough left for the lame, who come last to the spoil.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 23. Thy tacklings are loosed] Here the Assyrians…
Verse 23. Thy tacklings are loosed] Here the Assyrians are represented under the figure of a ship wrecked by a violent storm; and the people on the beach, young, old, feeble, and diseased, gathering the spoil without any to hinder them. Kimchi, who understands the whole of this chapter of Hezekiah and the king of Assyria, says, "There are others of our rabbins who apply it all to the days of the Messiah."
Their mast - "Thy mast"] For תרנם tornam, "their mast," the Syriac reads תרניך torneycha, "thy mast;" the Septuagint and Vulgate, תרנך tornecha, ὁ ἱστος σου εκλινεν, "thy mast is fallen aside." - Septuagint. They seem to have read נטה natah or פנה panah, תרנך tornecha, or rather, לא כן lo con, "is not firm," the negative having been omitted in the present text by mistake. However, I have followed their sense, which seems very probable, as the present reading is to me extremely obscure.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 33:23-24. Thy tacklings are loosed — This apostrophe…
Isa 33:23-24. Thy tacklings are loosed — This apostrophe of the prophet is directed to the hostile nation. Having designed their army under the notion of a gallant ship, (Isa 33:21,) he here represents their undone condition by the metaphor of a ship, tossed in a tempestuous sea, having her cables broke, and all her tacklings loose, so that she could have no benefit of her masts and sails; and therefore is quickly swallowed up. They could not strengthen their mast — Namely, the Assyrians could not, of whom he still speaks, as in the first clause he spake to them. The lame take the prey — They who came to spoil and prey upon my people, shall become a prey to them, and shall be forced to flee away so suddenly that they shall leave so many spoils behind them, that, when strong and active men have carried away all that they desired, there shall be enough left for the lame, who come last to the spoil. Thus God would bring good out of evil; and not only deliver Jerusalem, but enrich it, and abundantly recompense the losses it had sustained. And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick — As the lame shall take the prey, so shall the sick, notwithstanding their weakness, make a shift to get to the abandoned camp, and seize something for themselves. In this sense the clause is understood by Bishop Lowth, and many other interpreters. Or, the sense may be, There shall be such a universal transport of joy upon this occasion, that even the sick shall, for the present, forget their sickness, and the sorrows of it, and join with the public in its rejoicings; the deliverance of their city shall be their cure: or, they shall have no cause to complain of any sickness or calamity; they shall be fully delivered from all their enemies and troubles; and shall enjoy perfect tranquillity and prosperity. The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity — This may be added, either, 1st, As the reason of the foregoing privilege; their sins, the main causes of their distresses, shall be pardoned; and therefore their sufferings, the effects of sin, shall cease: or, 2d, As an additional favour. They shall not only receive from me a glorious temporal deliverance, but, which is infinitely better, the pardon of all their sins, and all those spiritual and everlasting blessings which attend upon that mercy. Observe here, reader, sin is the sickness of the soul: when God pardons sin, he heals the disease; and when the diseases of sin are healed by pardoning mercy, the sting of bodily sickness is taken out, and the cause of it removed: so that either the inhabitant shall not be sick, or, at least, shall not say, I am sick — If iniquity be taken away, we have little reason to complain of outward affliction: Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Thy tacklings - This is evidently an address to…
Thy tacklings - This is evidently an address to Sennacherib. The mention of the war-galley and the ship seems to have suggested the application of the figure to the enemies of the Jews, and particularly to Sennacherib. The prophet, therefore, compares the Assyrian to a ship that was rendered unserviceable; whose sails were unfastened, and whose mast could not be made firm, and which was therefore at the mercy of winds and waves. The Hebrew which is rendered here ‘thy tacklings are loosed,’ means ‘thy cords are let go;’ that is, the cords or ropes that fastened the sails, the masts, and the rudder, were loosened. In such a condition the ship would, of course, go to ruin.
They could not well strengthen their mast - They could not fix it firm or secure. It is evident that if the mast cannot be made firm, it is impossible to navigate a ship. It is to be observed here, however, that the word which our translators have rendered ‘well’ (כן kên), not only signifies ‘well’ as an adverb, but is also used as a noun, and means a stand or station Gen 40:13; Gen 41:13; Dan 11:20-21; and also a base or pedestal (Exo 30:18, Exo 30:28; Exo 31:9; Exo 35:16; Exo 38:8; Lev 8:11; 1Ki 7:31. It may be used here to denote the socket or base of the ship’s mast; or the cross beam which the mast passed through, and which held it firm. This was called by the Greeks ἱστοπέδη histopedē (Odyssey xii. 51), or μεσόδμη, ἱστοδόκη mesodmē, histodokē. The translation, therefore, ‘They could not make fast the base of their mast,’ would better express the sense of the Hebrew. The Septuagint renders it: ‘Thy mast gave way.’
Read full note →
They could not spread the sail - Of course, as the ropes were all loosened, and the mast could not be made firm, it Would be in vain to attempt to spread a sail. The sense is, that the plan of the Assyrian would be disconcerted, his scheme discomfited, and his enterprise would come to naught. He and his army would be like a vessel at sea without sails.
Then is the prey of a great spoil divided - The word ‘divided’ here means shall be distributed or apportioned, as plunder was usually among victors. The sense is, that much booty would be taken from the army of the Assyrian and distributed among the Jews (see the note at Isa 33:4). It is certain that Hezekiah had given to Sennacherib three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold, and had stripped the temple, and given the gold that was on the temple to him 2Ki 18:14-16, and tiffs treasure was doubtless in the camp of the Assyrians. And it is certain that after this invasion of Sennacherib, the treasures of Hezekiah were replenished, and his wealth so much abounded, that he made an improper and ostentatious display of it to the ambassadors that came from Babylon 2Ki 20:13-15; and there is every presumption, therefore, that a great amount of spoil was collected from the camp of the Assyrian.
The lame take the prey - It shall be so abundant, and shall be so entirely abandoned by the Assyrians, that even the feeble and the defenseless shall go forth to the camp and take the spoil that is left.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Thy tacklings. He speaks of the enemies of the…
Thy tacklings. He speaks of the enemies of the Church, under the allegory of a ship that is disabled. (Challoner) --- Sennacherib shall attempt invasion no more than a ship without masts would put to sea.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain Recapitulation and Conclusion
Recapitulation and Conclusion
Isa_33:23-24
Read full note →
23 26Thy tacklings are loosed;
27They could not well strengthen their mast,
They could not spread the 28sail:
Then is the prey of a great spoil divided;
The lame take the prey.
24 And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick:
The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa_33:23. We must take נטשׁו Niph. as the passive of the notion missum facers, “to slacken” (comp. Exo_23:11; Pro_17:14). Expositors take כֵּן to mean the socket in which the mast sets in the bottom of the ship. But that (the ίστοπέδη) is not held by the cables. And when Vitringa says that the cables malum sustinentes thecae succurrunt, that is even not חִוַּק. For this word denotes adstringere, firmum reddere, and can only relate directly to the mast, as occurs in the text. Hence Drechsler would not take cables but the seamen as subject of יחזקו; in which case the negative expression appears strange. Hence I think that כֵּן here is not the substantive, but the adjective derived from כּוּן, erectus stetit, which means rectus, and would here be taken in its original physical sense, though everywhere else, indeed, it is used in a spiritual or moral sense (unless, perhaps, 1Ki_7:29; 1Ki_7:31 form exceptions).—The suffix in תרנם (comp. Isa_30:17) is also proof that the cables are subject. For it is their chief aim to hold the mast (comp. Göll, Kulturbilder aus Hellas und Rom. II, p. 197). This may, therefore, be called their mast. The tangled cables hinder the unfurling of the flag (the ἐπίσημον or παράσημον, (comp. Eze_27:7).—עַד denoting “booty” occurs again only Gen_49:27; Zep_3:8.
Isa_33:24. Isa_33:23 and שָׁכֵן make it clear that בָּהּ refers to Jerusalem.—נְשֻּׂא עָוֹן occurs only here; but comp. Psa_32:1 and Isa_3:3; Isa_9:14.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. We regarded Isa_33:22, in form and contents, as a conclusion of the prophetic perspective that joins on to the act of deliverance spoken of before Isa_33:13, and presupposes it. With Isa_33:23 the Prophet returns into the immediate present distress from which proceeds the entire prophetic cycle of chaps. 28–33. At Isa_33:23 we stand again in the period before the overthrow of the Assyrians. With few, yet vigorous and clear lines the Prophet portrays, in the first three clauses of Isa_33:23, the present distress, using an image suggested by Isa_33:21. He compares the kingdom of Judah to a ship whose cables hang loose and hold neither flag nor mast [but see comment below]. For then (i. e., in the great moment referred to, Isa_33:1; Isa_33:3, whose approach he had announced as immediate Isa_33:10, and presupposes Isa_33:13 sqq.), in this great moment great booty is distributed, and in fact plunder is so easy that the lame themselves can share in it (Isa_33:23 end). Now Israel is reinvigorated to a healthy, strong life. It has in that deliverance the pledge that God has forgiven its sin, and that is the pledge of all salvation (Isa_33:24). Thus the prophecy concludes with a brief word as it began. And the pith of it is the same fact to which Isa_33:1 refers from another side.
2. Thy tacklings—iniquity.
Isa_33:23-24. Expositors down to Ewald, whom Drechsler and Delitzsch join [so also Barnes, J. A. Alexander, Birks], understand the image of the ship to refer to Assyria, and to form a continuation of the allegory of Isa_33:21 : did the enemy succeed in crossing those trenches, they would be wrecked, and Israel would divide the spoil. The following considerations conflict with this view: 1) Isa_33:22 concludes the preceding discourse; 2) according to Isa_33:21 the hostile ships will not cross over those water trenches; the mention of them is in respect only of plundering and destruction; 3) the description of Isa_33:23 does not suit a vessel disabled in conflict, but only one badly equipped for battles; 4) what is said of the lame plundering implies a locality that such can reach, they cannot be supposed to take part in a sea-fight; 5) the feminine suffix in חבליך refers to Zion. because Assyria is nowhere else made feminine. For in the sole passage quoted in proof that it is (Isa_30:32) the reading is doubtful, and if the reading בָּהּ be correct, still the suffix must refer to the land of Assyria, which is impossible in our text. [The Author hardly does justice to the view he controverts, which, as put by J. A. Alexander,in loc., seems more natural than his own. “There is, at the beginning of this verse, a sudden apostrophe to the enemy considered as a ship. It was said (Isa_33:21) that no vessel should approach the holy city. But now the Prophet seems to remember that one had done so, the proud ship Assyria. But what was its fate? He sees it dismantled and abandoned to its enemies.”—Tr.]
The ship of the Jewish state presents a desolate spectacle. But patience! Then (i.e., in the moment, that is partly predicted, partly presupposed in what precedes), spoil will be divided, which implies complete victory. The accumulation of words meaning booty ( בז ,שׁלל ,עד) denotes the rich abundance of it. What is said of the lame intimates plainly enough that the field of plunder must have been near Jerusalem, and that the enemy had fled. For only then could such reach the camp or venture into it. Manifestly the Prophet has in mind the same fact to which he refers Isa_33:4 (2Ki_19:35 sqq.; Isa_37:36 sqq.). As in Isa_33:5-6 the spoiling of the Assyrian is made the pledge of all other displays of divine grace, so, too, here. The nation that has experienced such salvation from God may comfort itself with the assurance of all support both for the body (24a) [comp. Jer_14:18] and for the soul (24b). Both hang closely together (comp. Luk_5:20 sqq.). But forgiving sin is the chief matter: for sin separates God and man; and as soon as it is taken away, both are closely united, and the way is opened for blessing men (comp. Isa_33:5-6).
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Isa_33:1. Per quod quis peccat, per idem punitur et ipse. Jer_30:16; comp. Adonibezek, Jdg_1:5 sqq.; Mat_7:2.
2. On Isa_33:10. God alone knows when the proper moment has come for Him to interpose. Till then He waits—but not a moment longer. Till then it is our part to wait with patience. But let the right moment come, and let the Lord once say: “Now will I rise,” then what is not of God falls to pieces, then the nations must despair and kingdoms fall; the earth must pass away when He lets Himself be heard (Psa_46:7). Then the hidden truth of things becomes manifest: what appeared strong then appears weak, and the weak strong, that the Lord alone may be high at that time (Isa_2:11; Isa_5:15).
3. Isa_33:14. Here we get a deep insight into the obstinate and despairing heart of man, and recognize why it will not endure a living and personal God. As Peter said: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luk_5:8), so they would turn the living God out of the world, because they feel themselves to be sinful men, who cannot renounce their sins, because they will not; for did they but earnestly will to do so, then they could also. The inmost reason of all practical and theoretical heathenism is the feeling of the natural man that he and the holy God cannot exist side by side in the world. One or other must yield. Instead of adopting the way and means which God reveals, by which from natural and sinful men we may become holy children of God, we rather deny the living God and substitute either demons (1Co_10:20) or abstractions for Him. But the Prophet here awakens the presentiment that we may become holy children of God (Isa_33:15); the Son of God, however, in the new covenant teaches us this with perfect clearness (1Pe_2:9 sqq.).
HOMILETICAL HINTS
1. Isa_33:2-6. Help in great distress. 1) On what condition (believing prayer, Isa_33:2); 2) Its ground a. the grace of God (Isa_33:2 a); b. the power of God (Isa_33:3 b, Isa_5:5 a); 3) Its two sides, in that it is a. corporal (Isa_33:3-4); b. spiritual (Isa_33:5-6).
2. [Isa_33:5. When God’s enemies and ours are overthrown, both He and we are glorified. “1. God will have the praise of it (Isa_33:5 a); 2. His people will have the blessing of it (Isa_33:5 b).” M. Henry].
3. Isa_33:10-13. The Lord’s acts of deliverance. 1. They come at the right moment (Isa_33:10). 2. They are thorough in their effects (Isa_33:11-12). 3. They teach us to know and praise God.
4. [Isa_33:14. “1. The hypocrites will be greatly alarmed when they see punishment come upon the open and avowed enemies of God. 2. In such times they will have none of the peace and quiet confidence which His true friends have. 3. Such alarm is evidence of conscious guilt and hypocrisy. 4. The persons here spoken of had a belief in the doctrine of eternal punishment—a belief which hypocrites and sinners always have, else why should they be alarmed? 5. The punishment of hypocrites in the church will be dreadful.” A. Barnes].
5. [The character of a righteous man (Isa_33:15). The reward of the righteous (Isa_33:16 sqq.). See M. Henry and Barnes in loc.—Tr.]
6. Isa_33:20-22. Comfort for the church in adversity. The church of the Lord stands fast. For 1. It is the last and highest institution of God (Isa_33:20). 2. The Lord Himself is mighty in it, a. as Judge, b. as a Master (Teacher), c. as King (Isa_33:21-22).
Footnotes:
[26]Or, They have forsaken thy tacklings.
[27]They hold not erect their mast.
[28]flag.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain tacklings--Continuing the allegory in Isa 33:21, he compares the…
tacklings--Continuing the allegory in Isa 33:21, he compares the enemies' host to a war galley which is deprived of the tacklings or cords by which the mast is sustained and the sail is spread; and which therefore is sure to be wrecked on "the broad river" (Isa 33:21), and become the prey of Israel.
they--the tacklings, "hold not firm the base of the mast."
Read full note →
then--when the Assyrian host shall have been discomfited. Hezekiah had given Sennacherib three hundred talents of silver, and thirty of gold (Kg2 18:14-16), and had stripped the temple of its gold to give it to him; this treasure was probably part of the prey found in the foe's camp. After the invasion, Hezekiah had so much wealth that he made an improper display of it (Kg2 20:13-15); this wealth, probably, was in part got from the Assyrian.
the lame--Even the most feeble shall spoil the Assyrian camp (compare Isa 35:6; Sa2 5:6).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 23, 24. Thy tacklings are loosed — By curious…
23, 24. Thy tacklings are loosed — By curious prophetic association again, the intuition of war galley and ship turns the mind back, as it were, to the wrecked Assyrian ship, which, with its broken ropes, (“tacklings,”) and loosened mast-base, can no more spread sail. But the Jews now have their opportunity. The heretofore plunderer is now the thoroughly plundered one. All the spoil of his ships the wreckers may seize. This is the view of most interpreters, but not of Drechsler or Delitzsch. The Jews need not now say I am sick; the oldest and most infirm may go after the enemy’s abandoned spoil and be enriched thereby. They may do so freely and with impunity, for their iniquities are forgiven. The calamities of the invasion are overpast.
PART 6.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 23. The abrupt transition from the glorious future to…
23. The abrupt transition from the glorious future to the present or the past, in the first part of the verse, is somewhat surprising at this point. It is not Assyria but Zion which is compared to an unseaworthy ship, a comparison natural enough in itself, as when we speak of the “ship of state.”
Thy tacklings are loosed] Or, thy ropes hung slack.
Read full note →
they could not well strengthen, &c.] they could not hold fast the foot of their mast, they did not spread out the sail (or, “the ensign”).
The subject here is the ropes; they could not serve the two purposes for which they were intended, supporting the mast and extending the sail. The word rendered well must from its position be a substantive; it denotes the μεσόδμη, the cross-beam into which the mast was let, or else the hole in the keel which received its foot (ἱστοπέδη). The rendering “sail” is doubtful. The word means elsewhere “ensign,” and one is tempted to translate it “flag.” But it is said that ships had no flags in ancient times (Cornill on Eze_27:7).
the prey of a great spoil] Rather, “prey of spoil in abundance.” The expression “prey of spoil” is perhaps to be explained like the Latin praeda exuviarum. The figure of the ship is entirely dropped. On the word for “prey” see on ch. Isa_9:6.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (23) Thy tacklings are loosed . . .—The words…
(23) Thy tacklings are loosed . . .—The words have been taken as applicable either to Assyria, as one of the “ships of Tarshish” that had been wrecked, or to Zion, as a vessel that had been driven by the wind and tossed, but had escaped shipwreck. On the whole, the first view seems most in harmony with the context. The terms have been taken by some critics for the cords, poles, and canvas of a tent, but the rendering of the Authorised version seems preferable.
The lame take the prey.—The wrecked Assyrian ship is represented as being plundered by those whom it came to plunder. “The lame” were commonly excluded, as incapable of active service, from sharing in the spoils. Here they also were to have their portion.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Thy tacklings are loosed. The comparing of God to…
Thy tacklings are loosed. The comparing of God to a river has led to the representation of Judah"s enemies as warships (ver. 21). This causes Judah herself to be viewed as a ship a badly appointed ship, which has to contend with one whose equipment is perfect. The prophet"s thoughts have traveled back to the existing state of things. They could not well strengthen their mast; rather, they cannot hold firm the lower part of their mast. The mast had its lower extremity inserted into a hole in a cross-beam, and required to be kept in place by the ropes. If they were loose, it might slip out of the hole and fall overboard. They could not spread the sail; rather, they cannot spread the ensign. The ensign would seem to have been attached to the top of the mast. If the mast fell, it would no longer be spread out, so as to be seen. Then is the prey of a great spoil divided. The word "then" is emphatic. Now the disabled ship seems incapable of coping with its enemy. Then (after Assyria"s overthrow) Judah will obtain an immense spoil (see ver. 4). Even the lame shall have their portion.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Thy tacklings are loosed
Isa_33:23
Thy tacklings are loosed
Read full note →
Thy tacklings are loosed
The tacklings may denote the good counsels of wise senators; a strong, well-disciplined army; and money, which is necessary to supply the exigences of the State.
These tacklings are loosed, when few prudent men can be found to manage public affairs, and to form the manners of the citizens; when the soldiery become weak and timid, and there is a scarcity of finances to carry into execution the salutary measures that are requisite to be adopted. (R. Macculloch.)
They could not well strengthen their mast
The mast of the ship may signify the most eminent person or persons in the kingdom who were exalted above all the others. The mast, in this figurative sense, could not be well strengthened; when the proper means of aiding and supporting the chief magistrate were wanting or were greatly deficient, he could not receive the succours that were requisite to maintain the dignity and prosperity of the empire. Persons in power are incapable by themselves to advance the public welfare, unless supported by the wealth, the interest, the advice, and courage of those over whom they preside. (R. Macculloch.)
They could not spread the sail
The sail may denote the means that were necessary to be applied and vigorously extended without delay, in order to promote the purposes to which they ought to be subservient, for the benefit of the State. These the people employed in managing public affairs were unable immediately to use, so as to give effect to the measures whereby the common interest might have been forwarded. (R. Macculloch.)
The prey of a great spoil
The power whose situation resembled a ship in distress is supposed to have met with a terrible storm, whereby she had been dreadfully shattered, her cables and ropes loosed or broken, her masts disabled, so that she was almost a wreck. When in this forlorn condition, deserted by the mariners, who had lost hopes of her being able to stand out the tempest, the valuable cargo wherewith she was laden becomes a prey to the fraudulent and rapacious. (R. Macculloch.)
The ship of state
The abrupt transition from the glorious future to the present or the past, is somewhat surprising at this point. It is not Assyria but Zion which is compared to an unseaworthy ship. (Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.)
Seems to describe the fate of a hostile ship. (Prof. A. B. Davidson, LL. D.)
The lame take the prey
The prey-taker
Men labour under seemingly great disadvantages, and amid the most unfavourable circumstances, yet making grand achievements, getting great blessing for themselves, great blessing for the world, great blessing for the Church; and so the lame take the prey. (T. DeWitt Talmage, D. D.)
The disabilities of successful men
Do you know that the three great poets of the world were totally blind? Homer, Ossian, John Milton. Do you know that Mr. Prescott, who wrote that enchanting book The Conquest of Mexico, never saw Mexico, could not even see the paper on which he was writing? A framework across the sheet, between which up and down went his pen immortal. Do you know that Gambassio, the sculptor, could not see the marble before him, or the chisel with which he cut it into shapes bewitching? Do you know that Alexander Pope, whose poems will last as long as the English language, was so much of an invalid that he had to be sewed up every morning m rough canvas in order to stand on his feet at all? Do you know that Stuart, the celebrated painter, did much of his wonderful work under the shadow of the dungeon where he had been unjustly imprisoned for debt? Do you know that Demosthenes by almost superhuman exertion first had to conquer the lisp of his own speech before he conquered assemblages with his eloquence? Do you know that Bacon struggled up through innumerable sicknesses, and that Lord Byron and Sir Walter Scott went limping on club-foot through all their life, and that many of the great poets, and painters, and orators, and historians, and heroes of the world had something to keep them back, and pull them down, and impede their way, and cripple their physical or their intellectual movement, and yet that they pushed on and pushed up until they reached the spoils of worldly success, and amid the huzzas of nations and centuries the lame took the prey? You know that a vast multitude of these men started under the disadvantage of obscure parentage. Columbus, the son of the weaver; Ferguson, the astronomer, the son of the shepherd. America the prey of the one, worlds on worlds the prey of the other. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)
The advantages of invalidism
What is true in secular directions, is more true in spiritual and religious directions. There are in all communities many invalids. They never know a well day. They adhere to their occupations, but they go punting along the streets with exhaustions, and at eventime they lie down on the lounge with aching beyond all medicament. They have tried all prescriptions, they have gone through all the cures which were proclaimed infallible, and they have come now to surrender to perpetual ailments. They consider they are among many disadvantages, and when they see those who are buoyant in health pass by, they almost envy their robust frames and easy respirations. But I have noticed among that invalid class those who have the greatest knowledge of the Bible, who are in the nearest intimacy with Jesus Christ, who have the most glowing experiences of the truth, who have had the most remarkable answers to prayer, and who have most exhilarant anticipations of heaven. The temptations which weary us who are in robust health, they have conquered. They have divided among them the spoils of the conquest. Many who are athletic and swarthy loiter in the road, while these are the lame which take the prey. Robert Hall an invalid, Edward Payson an invalid, Richard Baxter an invalid, Samuel Rutherford an invalid. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)
Physical disability attended by spiritual advantage
Through raised letters the art of printing has been brought to the attention of the blind. You take up the Bible for the blind, and you close your eyes, and you run your fingers over the raised letters, and you say, Why, I never could get any information in this way; what a slow way of reading. God help the blind. And yet I find among that class of persons--among the blind, the deaf, and the dumb--the most thorough acquaintance with Gods Word. Shut out from all other sources of information, no sooner does their hand touch the raised letter than they gather a prayer. Without eyes, they look off upon the kingdoms of Gods love. Without hearing, they catch the minstrelsy of the skies. Dumb, yet with pencil or with irradiated countenance, they declare the glory of God. A large audience assembled in New York at the anniversary of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, and one of the visitors, with chalk on the blackboard, wrote this question to the pupils, Do you not find it very hard to be deaf and dumb? And one of the pupils took the chalk and wrote on the blackboard this sublime sentence in answer: When the song of the angels shall burst upon our enraptured ear we will scarcely regret that our ears were never marred with earthly sounds. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)
Spiritual compensation for physical blindness
A lad who had been blind from infancy was cured. The oculist operated upon the lad, and then put a very heavy bandage over the eyes, and after a few weeks had gone by the bandage was removed, and the mother said to her child, Willie, can you see? He said, Oh, mamma, is this heaven? The contrast between the darkness before and the brightness afterwards was overwhelming. And I tell you the glories of heaven will be a thousandfold brighter for those who never saw anything on earth. (T. De Will Talmage, D. D.)
Poor, yet rich
There are those in all communities who toil mightily for a livelihood. They have scant wages. Perhaps they are diseased, or have physical infirmities, so that they are hindered from doing a continuous days work. A city missionary finds them up the dark alley, with no fire, with thin clothing, with very coarse bread. They never ride in the street car; they cannot afford the five cents. They never see any pictures save those in the show window on the street, from which they are often jostled and looked at by someone who seems to say in the look, Move on! what are you doing here looking at pictures? Yet many of them live on mountains of transfiguration. At their rough table He who fed the five thousand breaks the bread. They talk often of the good times that are coming. This world has no charm for them, but heaven entrances their spirit. They often divide their scant crust with some forlorn wretch who knocks at their door at night, and on the blast of the night wind, as the door opens to let them in, is heard the voice of Him who said, I was hungry and ye fed Me. No cohort of heaven will be too bright to transport them. By Gods help they have vanquished the Assyrian host. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)
Ordinary Christian, may accomplish great good
There are those who would like to do good. They say, Oh, if I only had wealth, or if I had eloquence, or if I had high social position, how much I would accomplish for God and the Church. You have great opportunities for usefulness. Who built the Pyramids? The king who ordered them built? No; the plain workmen who added stone after stone, stone after stone. Who built the dykes of Holland? The government that ordered the enterprise? No; the plain workmen who carried the stuff and rung their trowels on the wall. Who are those who have built these vast cities? The capitalists? No; the carpenters, the masons, the plumbers, the plasterers, the tinners, the reefers dependent on a days wages for a livelihood. And so in the great work of assuaging human suffering, and enlightening human ignorance, and halting human iniquity. In that great work the chief part is to be done by ordinary men, with ordinary speech, in an ordinary manner, and by ordinary means. (T. DeWitt Talmage, D. D.)
The lame take the prey
A long, long while that has puzzled one, why the prophet should say, The lame take the prey. Our experience of human life goes to show that lame people seldom succeed in taking the great prizes of life. If a man is lame in his power of calculation, and cannot easily count up columns of figures; if he is lame in his caligraphy, if he is lame in his memory, and cannot easily recall names and faces; if he is lame in the power of touch, and cannot detect the difference between two apparently identical fabrics; if a man is lame in any faculty, he is crushed to the wall in the busy rush of human life and arrives at the end of the crowd to take the leavings of the rest. In human life a man who is lame anyhow misses the prey, misses the spoil, misses the prize. But in Gods world, in Gods Book, in Gods dealings with men, The race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong. Weakness has a fascination for God; and those who have lost everything that this world can give are they who come off best with our heavenly Father. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
Henry Fawcett, Postmaster-General
One great Postmaster-General of England was lame in his sight. Mr. Fawcett was blind, but he took the prey of a great office which he fulfilled with great success. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
The weak favoured
I got an illustration of this when I happened to be staying in a farm-house. With one exception the family consisted of robust, hearty children, but there was one little lame boy. Whilst I was staying, there came in a great hamper of apples, and at once all the boys and girls in the family, having eyed them wistfully, proceeded to appropriate, and to appropriate very lavishly, the apples. The little lame fellow, with his puny, wan face, looked forward eagerly as those apples disappeared, and no one thought of him, till mother came, a bustling, quick-tempered woman. She said, What is that you are doing? Put all those apples back again, I tell you. And very ruefully they replaced them. Now, she said, Jimmy, you come and take your pick. And the little lame fellow on the crutch pushed his way up to the table, took the ripest and juiciest, and filled his pockets as full as they would hold, and then went back with a flush upon his pale cheeks. Then mother said to the other children, Now do what you like with the rest. I saw how in mothers love the lame take the prey! (F. B.Meyer, B. A.)
The weak specialty cared for
I came afterwards into the house of a workman, a smith, one whose closed fist could fell any man. He had an ailing child, A little, puny thing lay and cried in the cradle. There was no chance to rear it; it must die. And he came in from his smithy--a strong, brawny man, with black hair. And I tell you that child dragged that man down to the level, and its poor, weak, puny frame was able to do for that strong man what the strongest in the village could not--it could fell him! And at once there came upon me the conception, in dealing with God, at any rate, it is not the strong man who can shoulder his way and fight the brunt and take what he will in this world, every one waiting behind him, but it is the weak who get the tenderest blessings. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
The lowly are enriched
When I began to preach I thought all Gods best things were on the tall shelf, and when I got very good I should be able to reach them down. Now I find all the best gifts are on the low shelf, that the babes can get at. And it is only when we become as little babes, only when we become simple, natural, and our stiff backs get bent, that we get low enough to take Gods benefits. (F. B. Meyer, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain (A Sermon to Seamen.)
THE DISABLED SHIP
(A Sermon to Seamen.)
Read full note →
Isa_33:23. Thy tacklings are loosed, &c.
Seas, rivers, and ships have for ages afforded the world the mainstay of commerce. Not only so; the imagery of many of our best books would have been very much the poorer had not visions and dreams of the sea been present to the writers. Isaiah makes good use of these. In Isa_33:21 he says, “The glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams,” &c. Jerusalem was badly off, compared with Babylon and other cities, in that it had neither sea nor river, but only a small rivulet. Large and deep rivers near great towns have their advantages and disadvantages in time of war. The prophet here says that God would be to Jerusalem a place of broad rivers and streams, wherein no ship of war should be allowed to approach to injure His people. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in seas or war-ships (Isa_33:22).
Jerusalem, at this time, was in danger from a great power, and in the text that power, Assyria, is compared to a ship whose “tacklings are loosed,” &c. A sad plight surely for a ship to be in! But not only great powers like Assyria are, in reality, in a bad way, as abettors of wickedness, but individuals also, like the disabled vessel spoken of by the prophet; for,
1. A wicked man is like a ship whose tacklings are loosed. The tackle of a ship is of immense service in many ways; but a ship whose tackle has got loosed from her masts is not fit for a voyage. No seaman would dream of sailing in such a ship. Every rope must be in its right place and securely fixed. But how many men are out on the voyage of life, with the gear of mind and heart all loose! In fine weather, even, they make no real headway; in storms they are in peril of being cast away. They are at the mercy of every wind that blows; for,
2. A wicked man is like a ship whose masts will not stand upright. The tackle of a ship is of service in strengthening its masts. But men are out voyaging on the sea of life: they would fain stand upright, but they cannot; for their thoughts and feelings are not made use of to sustain them in an upright life; they sway under the blast; the crash of ruin is always impending.
3. A wicked man is like a ship without sails. On a mast, unstrengthened by good tackle, it is worse than useless to attempt to spread a sail. But without sails to catch the heaven-sent breezes, how shall the distant haven be reached? Even men of some moral ballast are at best like poor toilers at the oars. The port is a long way off, and they need sails—wings filled with spiritual energies—to carry them onward over miles of sea day by day.
4. A wicked man is like a dismantled ship which plunderers attack. “Then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.” How poor sailors are plundered by the weakest of mankind and womankind!
CONCLUSION.—Sin, iniquity, that is, in-equity, is at the root of the godless man’s loose thoughts and passions, tottering steps and wingless spirit. The ship wants a thorough overhauling; nay, it wants remaking (Joh_3:3).
We should be homeward-bound for the kingdom of God; but it is vain to dream of reaching port as an unseaworthy vessel.—J. Macrae Simcock.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Your riggings are slack; they cannot hold the mast…
Your riggings are slack; they cannot hold the mast in place; they cannot spread the sail
Possible meanings: 1) The Assyrian army is like a boat that is unable to move through the water: the ropes that support the mast and sail have come loose and no longer support the mast, so the sail is useless (Isaiah 33:1) or 2) the people of Judah are no longer at war: "You have loosened the cords that supported your flagpole; the flag no longer flies" (Isaiah 33:17-Isaiah 22). (See: Metaphor)
Read full note →
mast
tall poles that support the sail
sail
a large cloth that fills with wind and moves a boat through the water
when the great spoil is divided
This can be stated in active form. AT: "when they divide the treasure" (See: Active or Passive)
the lame
This refers to people who are cannot walk. AT: "those who are lame" (See: Nominal Adjectives)
the people who live there will be forgiven for their iniquity
This can be stated in active form. AT: "Yahweh will forgive the sins of the people who live there" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
forgive
iniquity
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.