Isaiah 33:23-24

Recapitulation and Conclusion

Isaiah 33:23-24

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

Isaiah 33:23. We must take נטשׁו Niph. as the passive of the notion missum facers, “to slacken” (comp. Exodus 23:11; Proverbs 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, 1 Kings 7:29; 1 Kings 7:31 form exceptions).—The suffix in תרנם (comp. Isaiah 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. Ezekiel 27:7).—עַד denoting “booty” occurs again only Genesis 49:27; Zephaniah 3:8.

Isaiah 33:24.Isaiah 33:23; Isaiah 33:23 and שָׁכֵן make it clear that בָּהּ refers to Jerusalem.—נְשֻּׂא עָוֹן occurs only here; but comp. Psalms 32:1 and Isaiah 3:3; Isaiah 9:14.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1. We regarded Isaiah 33:22, in form and contents, as a conclusion of the prophetic perspective that joins on to the act of deliverance spoken of before Isaiah 33:13, and presupposes it. With Isaiah 33:23 the Prophet returns into the immediate present distress from which proceeds the entire prophetic cycle of chaps. 28–33. At Isaiah 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 Isaiah 33:23, the present distress, using an image suggested by Isaiah 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, Isaiah 33:1; Isaiah 33:3, whose approach he had announced as immediate Isaiah 33:10, and presupposes Isaiah 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 (Isaiah 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 (Isaiah 33:24). Thus the prophecy concludes with a brief word as it began. And the pith of it is the same fact to which Isaiah 33:1 refers from another side.

2. Thy tacklings—iniquity.

Isaiah 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 Isaiah 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) Isaiah 33:22 concludes the preceding discourse; 2) according to Isaiah 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 Isaiah 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 (Isaiah 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 (Isaiah 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 Isaiah 33:4 (2 Kings 19:35 sqq.; Isaiah 37:36 sqq.). As in Isaiah 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. Jeremiah 14:18] and for the soul (24b). Both hang closely together (comp. Luke 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. Isaiah 33:5-6).

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. On Isaiah 33:1. Per quod quis peccat, per idem punitur et ipse. Jeremiah 30:16; comp. Adonibezek, Judges 1:5 sqq.; Matthew 7:2.

2. On Isaiah 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 (Psalms 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 (Isaiah 2:11; Isaiah 5:15).

3.Isaiah 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” (Luke 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 (1 Corinthians 10:20) or abstractions for Him. But the Prophet here awakens the presentiment that we may become holy children of God (Isaiah 33:15); the Son of God, however, in the new covenant teaches us this with perfect clearness (1 Peter 2:9 sqq.).

HOMILETICAL HINTS

1.Isaiah 33:2-6. Help in great distress. 1) On what condition (believing prayer, Isaiah 33:2); 2) Its ground a. the grace of God (Isaiah 33:2 a); b. the power of God (Isaiah 33:3 b, Isaiah 5:5 a); 3) Its two sides, in that it is a. corporal (Isaiah 33:3-4); b. spiritual (Isaiah 33:5-6).

2. [Isaiah 33:5. When God’s enemies and ours are overthrown, both He and we are glorified. “1. God will have the praise of it (Isaiah 33:5 a); 2. His people will have the blessing of it (Isaiah 33:5 b).” M. Henry].

3.Isaiah 33:10-13. The Lord’s acts of deliverance. 1. They come at the right moment (Isaiah 33:10). 2. They are thorough in their effects (Isaiah 33:11-12). 3. They teach us to know and praise God.

4. [Isaiah 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 (Isaiah 33:15). The reward of the righteous (Isaiah 33:16 sqq.). See M. Henry and Barnes in loc.—Tr.]

6. Isaiah 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 (Isaiah 33:20). 2. The Lord Himself is mighty in it, a. as Judge, b. as a Master (Teacher), c. as King (Isaiah 33:21-22).

Footnotes:

[26]Or, They have forsaken thy tacklings.

[27]They hold not erect their mast.

[28]flag.