Chapter Thirty-Three

1–24. Prayer of Israel for salvation and God’s answer.

Isa 33:1-12. Around the year 701 BCE, the Assyrians, after their victory over the Egyptians, approached Jerusalem, despite the fact that Hezekiah had sent them to Lachish the tribute they demanded. In view of such treachery by the Assyrians, the prophet foretells their destruction and prophesies to the Jewish people their deliverance from the Assyrian invasion. Following this, the prophet expresses confidence in the speedy inner renewal of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. At the present time the position of the capital of Judea is very sad, but the Lord Himself promises to severely punish the enemies of Jerusalem, who have brought it to such a condition.

Isaiah 33:1. Woe to you who destroy without being destroyed, and who plunder without being plundered! When you finish destroying, you will be destroyed; and when you cease plundering, you will be plundered. The reference is to Assyria, which, since the time of Ashur-nasir-pal (885–860 BCE), had acquired such power that its armies were considered invincible. And this all-powerful state is destined for ruin and devastation. “Plunderer” – it is possibly more precisely from the Hebrew: schemer, traitor, one who plunders even his own allies (cf. verse 8). “When you cease.” Assyria will end its conquering campaigns, of course, not by its own choice, but as a result of the exhaustion of its state.

Isaiah 33:2. O Lord, be merciful to us; we have waited for you. Be their strength every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. Isaiah 33:3. At the sound of your majestic voice the peoples flee; when you rise up, the nations are scattered. Isaiah 33:4. They gather spoil as the caterpillar gathers; as locusts running about they run upon it. Isaiah 33:5. The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness. Isaiah 33:6. And there will be stability in your times, an abundance of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is your treasure. Having pointed out the condition for Assyria’s deliverance – faith in the Lord – the prophet depicts Assyria’s actual downfall, in the plundering of which Israel will also take an active part. Following this temporary salvation for Israel, a new, better future will come – the kingdom of the Messiah will be revealed with its greatest blessings. On Zion then justice will reign; the inhabitants of Jerusalem will possess wisdom and knowledge. “O Lord, be merciful to us.” The prophet offers a prayer to the Lord on behalf of all those who have remained faithful to the Most High. “Be our strength,” i.e., our intercessor – fight for us. “Your spoil.” Here the prophet addresses the Assyrians; when they depart from Jerusalem, the Jews will hastily take possession of the enormous spoil captured by the Assyrians, which those in panic will abandon. The Jews will seize this spoil as quickly as locusts devastate all vegetation in a known strip of land (cf. Joel 2:9). “The Lord is exalted,” i.e., the Lord will be praised by all for His great deed, which He will accomplish against the proud Assyria. “Justice and righteousness” – see chapter 32, verses 1 and 16. In verses 5 and 6 commentators count seven blessings of Messianic time: a) justice; b) righteousness; c) stability; d) salvation; e) wisdom; f) knowledge; g) fear of the Lord. Undoubtedly, here we have a parallel passage to chapter 11, where the Messiah Himself is attributed with seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (Isa 11:2-3).

Isaiah 33:7. Behold, their mighty ones cry in the streets; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly. Isaiah 33:8. The highways are desolate; the traveler has ceased. The covenant is broken; the cities are despised; mankind is held of no account. Isaiah 33:9. The land mourns and withers; Lebanon is ashamed and fades away; Sharon is like a desert; and Bashan and Carmel are stripped of their leaves. The present condition of Judea, however, is extremely distressed. “Their mighty ones” – in Hebrew, arielim, i.e., inhabitants of Ariel or Jerusalem (Isa 29:1), who now stood in the streets and cried loudly from fear under the influence of rumors reaching them about the Assyrian commanders. “Ambassadors of peace,” i.e., Jewish ambassadors who came with sad tidings from the Assyrian king (cf. Isa 15:4). “Weep” – of course, that their mission was not crowned with success. “Mankind is held of no account,” i.e., the Assyrian king desires to respect no one’s rights, and besides, he does not hesitate to daily destroy entire tens of innocent people. “The land mourns.” The prophet has in view the devastations caused by the Assyrian hordes in their passage through the lands mentioned here. The crude conquerors, of course, spared neither enemy forests (Lebanon and Carmel) nor fertile fields (Bashan). “Sharon” – a valley running along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea from Jaffa to Caesarea, – which the Assyrians crossed going to the Philistine land, was undoubtedly completely trampled by the troops.

Isaiah 33:10. Now I will rise up, says the Lord; now I will be exalted; now I will lift myself up. Isaiah 33:11. You conceive chaff, you give birth to straw; your breath is a fire that will consume you. Isaiah 33:12. And the peoples will be like the burning of lime; like the thorns cut down they will be burned in the fire. But now, precisely when hope for human help has vanished among the Jews, the Lord Himself comes to the aid of His people and proclaims to the Assyrians the destruction of all their plans and – their ruin. Their plans, all their calculations and intentions – are fragile as hay and straw. “Your breath” – more precisely: your ferocity. “Will consume,” i.e., will harm, will destroy. “Peoples,” i.e., various peoples, constituent parts of the Assyrian army. “Like the burning of lime.” Once lime is ignited, it is almost impossible to extinguish. “Like thorns cut down.” Similarly, a kindled fire of thorns is impossible to extinguish – the fire consumes such dry material so quickly! Isa 33:13-22. This judgment of God upon the Assyrians will be so terrible that even sinners in Jerusalem will be struck with horror. They would prefer to stand farther away from this terrible Judge and do not know whether anyone will be saved from the wrath of God. The prophet comforts the righteous, that for them the fire of God’s wrath is not terrible and that the Lord will instead give Jerusalem safety. He will become the Judge, lawgiver, and king of His people.

Isaiah 33:13. Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge my might. “What I have done” – in the translation from the Hebrew: “what I have done.” The Lord speaks here of the judgment upon the Assyrians as of a fact already accomplished. “Far off” – foreigners, “near” – inhabitants of Palestine and, above all, of Judea.

Isaiah 33:14. The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling has seized the godless: “Who of us can live with a consuming fire? Who of us can live with everlasting flames? Isaiah 33:15. He who walks in righteousness and speaks what is right; who spurns the gain of oppression and turns away from bribery; who stops his ears against plots of murder and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil; “Sinners,” of which there were not a few in Jerusalem (Isa 1:28), find the notion of God as a stern Judge strictly punishing for transgressions distressing. They do not want to part with their vicious habits, and yet – says the king-psalmist with the words of the 14th psalm (verses 1–2) – this is necessary: only pure and just people can safely live on Zion, near God the Judge. “Not see evil,” i.e., a good man does not even want to look at evil, at crime, and already to participate in it, of course, he will not consent!

Isaiah 33:16. He will dwell on the heights; his refuge will be the strongholds of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will not fail. Isaiah 33:17. Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; they will see a land that stretches far away. Isaiah 33:18. Your heart will meditate on the terror: “Where is the one who counted? Where is the one who weighed the tribute? Where is the one who counted the towers? Isaiah 33:19. You will not see the fierce people anymore, a people whose language is incomprehensible to you, whose tongue you do not understand. “To dwell on the heights” – the same as to have one’s abode on inaccessible rocks. “Bread... and water” – the necessities for sustaining life. “Your eyes.” The prophet addresses the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who will live to the time of deliverance from the Assyrian invasion. “King.” Apparently this is the Messiah. For the speech is about the King whom the righteous will see. (See the exposition of the previous verse). “In His beauty.” Here is a hint at the sackcloth which King Hezekiah then wore because of the sorrowful events in his state (Isa 37:1). Instead of this sackcloth the king will again put on his beautiful clothes. “A land that stretches far away” – more precisely: a land spread out far. Here is an allusion to the fact that the Judean kingdom, with the departure of the Assyrians, will take all the possessions and kingdoms of Israel. “Your heart” – you. “The one who counted” – this is an Assyrian official who kept a record of the taxpayers in the treasury of the Assyrian king. “The one who weighed the tribute.” In those times there were no monetary signs and silver or gold, which were paid as tribute, necessarily had to be weighed. “The one who counted the towers” – this is some Assyrian military commander seeking out where best to place an Assyrian garrison. “With a strange, incomprehensible tongue.” The common people in Judea, of course, could not understand the Assyrian language (cf. Isa 28:11), especially since the Assyrian army included many tribes of non-Semitic origin.

Isaiah 33:20. Look upon Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, and none of its cords will be broken. Isaiah 33:21. But there the magnificent Lord will be for us a place of rivers, of broad streams; no galley with oars will go there, nor will any mighty ship pass through. Isaiah 33:22. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; He will save us. Here the prophet’s gaze is transferred, apparently, to the kingdom of the Messiah. Jerusalem – the center of the religious life of the chosen people – although still called here a tent, yet this tent is depicted now not as being taken down, like Moses’s tent, constantly being taken down when the Jews moved from one camp to another, but as built firmly and immovably (cf. Amos 9:11). Keeping in mind that Nineveh, Babylon, and Thebes were protected from sudden enemy attacks by wide channels surrounding their walls, the prophet, to depict the safety with which Jerusalem will be enjoying under the Messiah, says that the Lord Himself will guard this city. Thanks to this protection, the enemies will no longer be able to take Jerusalem by any means, while fortresses surrounded by channels could still be taken by enemies who would bring ships with them.

Isaiah 33:23. Your ropes hang loose; they do not hold the mast firm or keep the sail spread. Then prey and spoil will be divided; even the lame will share in the plunder. Isaiah 33:24. And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”; the people living there will be forgiven their iniquity. At the present time – says the prophet – our state resembles a ship with poorly maintained rigging. But – wait! Soon circumstances will change for the better and the enemies will be scattered, leaving behind great spoil for the benefit of the Jews. But the most important thing – here the prophet apparently has in view the time of the Messiah – the inhabitants of Jerusalem will be forgiven their sins before God. Regarding the authenticity of this chapter, although doubts are expressed by many critics, all these objections are based on the idea that Isaiah could not have written in such a tone. Clearly, this opinion is too subjective and therefore does not deserve refutation. The stanzas of this chapter can be divided as follows: 1st stanza – verse 1 – (2) 2nd stanza – verses 2–6 – (2; 2, 2) 3rd stanza – verses 7–9 – (2, 2, 2) 4th stanza – verses 10–12 – (1, 1, 1) 1st stanza – verses 13–16 – (3, 2, 2) 2nd stanza – verses 17–21 – (3, 2, 2) 3rd stanza – verses 22–24 – (2, 2) * * * Notes Apparently here one speaks of a distant land – i.e., the new Jerusalem. Editor’s note.