Isaiah 42:22-25

Context

42:22 But these people are looted and plundered;

all of them are trapped in pits¹

and held captive² in prisons.

They were carried away as loot with no one to rescue them;

they were carried away as plunder, and no one says, “Bring that back!”³

42:23 Who among you will pay attention to this?

Who will listen attentively in the future?⁴

42:24 Who handed Jacob over to the robber?

Who handed Israel over to the looters?⁵

Was it not the Lord, against whom we sinned?

They refused to follow his commands;

they disobeyed his law.⁶

42:25 So he poured out his fierce anger on them,

along with the devastation⁷ of war.

Its flames encircled them, but they did not realize it;⁸

it burned against them, but they did notice.⁹

[42:22] ¹tc The Hebrew text has בַּחוּרִים (bakhurim, “young men”), but the text should be emended to בְּהוֹרִים (bÿhorim, “in holes”).

[42:22] ²tn Heb “and made to be hidden”; NAB, NASB, NIV, TEV “hidden away in prisons.”

[42:22] ³tn Heb “they became loot and there was no one rescuing, plunder and there was no one saying, ‘Bring back’.”

[42:23] ⁴tn The interrogative particle is understood in the second line by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[42:24] ⁵tn Heb “Who gave to the robber Jacob, and Israel to the looters?” In the first line the consonantal text (Kethib) has מְשׁוֹסֶה (mÿshoseh), a Polel participle from שָׁסָה (shasah, “plunder”). The marginal reading (Qere) is מְשִׁיסָּה (mÿshissah), a noun meaning “plunder.” In this case one could translate “Who handed Jacob over as plunder?”

[42:24] ⁶tn Heb “they were not willing in his ways to walk, and they did not listen to his law.”

[42:25] ⁷tn Heb “strength” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “fury”; NASB “fierceness”; NIV “violence.”

[42:25] ⁸tn Heb “and it blazed against him all around, but he did not know.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb “blazed” is the divine חֵמָה (khemah, “anger”) mentioned in the previous line.

[42:25] ⁹tn Heb “and it burned against him, but he did not set [it] upon [the] heart.”